The Runesmith Chronicles: Oni and the Farmer (Male x Monstergirl)
by BluDraygn
Summary: A young farmer with an ailing mother gets help from a large, blue-skinned, demon-like woman called an oni in return for a little bit of sexy time. As their relationship grows, they discover the young man has mysterious abilities and a special affinity for magic which will lead him on a journey that puts him into contact, and often deep inside, A variety of monstergirls (lemon)
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome!_

_This series is very loosely based off Monster Girl Encyclopedia. However, outside of:_

_1\. The existence of monster girls_

_2\. Monster girls always want sex/semen_

_3\. Monster girls attempt to force a man into becoming a 'husband'_

_It doesn't have a whole lot in common with MGE._

_I plan on trying to make the girls encountered unique in some way, not sure how successful I'll be as yet. Since we are dealing with non-human species I'm just going to say that unless stated otherwise all participants have reached their version of sexual maturity regardless of age or looks. Eg. Slimes become fully mature seconds after splitting off from a parent._

_On a side note, butt stuff and backdoor action is all squeaky clean in this fantasy world and scenes are written on that premise. Anything to the contrary will have to come from your own imaginations._

_Lastly, I'd like to mention that__ my eventual goal is to be able to write full time as well as retain an editor/proofreader. I hope my stories are entertaining enough to earn your support. _

_Enjoy!_

_Blu_

* * *

The young farmer hesitated as he stepped into the large hole in the rocky side of the mountain. The last time he was here his experience had been amazing. Now that he was once again standing at the cave's entrance he was beginning to regret his decision to come back. The boy had come to the delightful conclusion that the cavern's tenant was likely out and about in the forest. With the cave unoccupied it would be best for him to return home with all haste.

Heavy footsteps from inside the cave froze the man in place. The creator of the dull thumping sound halted before stepping out into the morning light. Glowing red eyes peered out from the shadowy entrance. The color an indicator their owner could see in complete darkness. The eyes widened in surprise then narrowed in annoyance as they inspected the farmer.

"Do you have a death wish human?" said a gruff but noticeably feminine voice.

"N-n-no," stuttered the young man, fear keeping him rooted in place despite his mind telling him to run in terror.

"Then why have you returned? You'll be receiving no more gifts from me. My charity only goes so far," she said.

The young man's eyes widened. "No ma'am that isn't why I'm here! Though I did want to thank you for your gift. It allowed me to get my mother the elixir she needed and still left enough for us to live comfortably for many years."

"That still doesn't explain why you have darkened my doorway once again."

Fidgeting in place, he looked down and mumbled, "I came to see you."

"Speak up! Boy! I can't understand your words if you are talking to the ground!" she growled.

The young man's head snapped up, looking her in the eyes. "I came to see you again!" he blurted out, his face flushing with embarrassment. "You saved my mother's life and likely saved me from a life of slavery. Those who can't pay the lords taxes are taken as slaves until their debt is paid off. Her cure would have left us penniless. After everything you did for me and my family, I felt I should come back and see if there was more I could do for you as thanks."

The large figure stepped into the sunlight and leaned over until her lips brushed his ear. "Liar," she whispered.

He finally got a good look at her before she disappeared into the darkness of the cave once again. The change in her appearance since he had last been here was startling. She had polished the dull, dried horns back to their original golden hue. Ratted gray hair with sticks and leaves poking out was now bright white and looked well kept. Her clothes were still the animal hides and leather straps that left little to the imagination but the farmer did think the buckles on her leathers seemed a bit shinier.

Most surprising was her skin. The light green color from his first visit had been replaced by light blue. Small triangular markings on each cheek had turned from black to a deep navy color

He started turning his head to object but the ogress grazed his ear with her razor-sharp fangs, freezing him in place again. When she was certain he wouldn't run away, traded her teeth for her tongue and ran it along his ear as his breath quickened. "You came back in hopes that you could put your cock inside me again."

The farmer blushed, "I won't lie, ma'am, that day was so amazing it has been hard to stop thinking about you."

She stood up and smiled at him, "Flatterer. Come inside and we can 'discuss' just how you can thank me."

"You've changed…" he said, following her inside and stopping as the cave became too dark for his human eyesight.

He saw her glowing eyes in the darkness before him. "Pay it no mind," she said, "our skin changes depending on our personality: Green is crude and violent, Red is a drunkard and Blue means intelligent. I'm usually a darker blue than this but lack of food in the area as well as getting harassed by do-gooders and thieves has made my skin turn green."

Taking his hand, she led him further into the darkness until he could no longer make out even the faintest light from outside. He took a couple of steps onto something that felt like animal hide when she stopped him and let go. He was completely at her mercy now, running away was impossible since he had no clues as to what direction to go. The thought both terrified and excited him.

The quiet shuffling of her feet on the hides echoed in the cavern making it hard to discern where she was. His first indication of her whereabouts was her breath on his neck.

"Don't move," she whispered gripping his shirt and pulling it over his head before undoing his belt from behind. His pants, however, got hung on his already rigid prick.

While his brain was having trouble figuring out if he should be aroused or terrified, his penis was having no such issues. He went to brush the pants off when she grabbed his arm with one hand and brought the other up to his neck, sharp claws digging into his flesh. "I said. Don't. Move," she growled. Placing his hand back at his side, she removed her claws from his neck. Terror won out for the moment and his cock started to droop until he felt the ogress's hot breath wash over the shaft. All worries about going soft disappeared as she took his pants in her teeth and pulled them over the head of his dick, letting them fall to the floor.

He gasped as her long tongue softly slid up the underside of his cock, his hands clenching and unclenching in frustration as he tried to keep them still. His hips gave a small jerk as her tongue swirled around the head and in a flash, he felt her claws on the base of his balls. "

No moooviiiing," she quietly singsonged. Her tongue swiped lazily over his prick as her claws gently danced over his scrotum. Meanwhile, his fingernails were biting into his palms and he began to sweat with the effort to stay still.

Her tongue left his cock to be replaced by her hand as she stood up, claws gently resting on his shaft as a reminder that no movement would be tolerated. She bent down and took one of his nipples in her mouth, gently biting and licking it before giving the other one similar treatment. The ogress then slowly licked and nipped her way up his chest before licking and kissing his neck.

"You taste good," she purred, "but I know what will taste even better."

Sinking to her knees, she started teasing his balls once again. The occasional brush of a claw never letting him forget the importance of staying completely frozen in place. He felt her breath on the head of his cock a moment before her tongue flicked out, catching a droplet of pre-cum hanging from the tip.

"Mmmmm delicious," she hummed in pleasure as she swirled the treat around in her mouth. Tightening her grip on his balls, she brought her lips up to his cock. With a patience that was driving the farmer boy insane she slowly slid her lips down his entire length. Pressing her tongue against the underside, she pulled back with the same agonizing slowness until only the head remained inside the warm confines of her mouth.

After three strokes of her excruciatingly slow blowjob, the young farmer was whimpering with need. The complete darkness made him all that more aware of what was happening to his body. The ogress pulled completely off his cock then took his hands and placed them on her horns.

"Now you can move," she growled, her voice thick with lust. Before he recovered from the surprise of being allowed to move again she quickly swallowed his prick to the hilt. The farmer boy almost cried out in relief as he began to thrust in and out of the ogress's mouth. The tongue that had been just teasing the underside of his cock now swirled and danced around his prick, sometimes circling the head and sometimes fluttering across the bottom as he savagely fucked her face. After only a couple of minutes, he began to feel the familiar tingling in his balls.

"Gonna…. cum," he said through gritted teeth. To his surprise she began sucking harder, grabbing his ass with both hands and pulling him into her mouth. Concerns of bruising her lips or nose fled as the first shot of cum rocketed up his cock and into her mouth. The ogress moaned in delight as spurt after spurt of cum sprayed across her tongue. After a final shudder from the farmer boy she let his dick slip from her mouth.

The boy realized she had been holding him upright as he was cumming. His legs were like jelly and he sank to his knees as she moved away disappearing into the darkness. A moment later a torch flared to life behind him. Turning to look, he squinted in the light as the ogress silently walked around the cavern, lighting other torches in various wall sconces and bathing the room in a soft glow. He looked at her as she put the first torch back in its sconce. "That…. Was…. Amazing…." He said between labored breaths. She smiled at him then tapped her cheek, swishing the contents of her mouth around and giving a small moan of pleasure.

The ogress then walked over to a makeshift chair, hewn out of a large rock and draped with animal hides. Sitting down, she leaned back and let the farmer's cum roll around inside her mouth, savoring the taste. As she relaxed and enjoyed her meal one of her hands made its way down to push aside the leather flap hiding her pussy. Her fingers lightly brushed across her folds as she began to let the farmer boy's cum slide down her throat a tiny bit at a time. Finally catching his breath, the boy watched the large woman play with herself for a time. Smiling, he decided that this was a perfect opportunity to return the favor.

He tried to stand but his legs were still too shaky. Instead, he quietly crawled across the furs to her chair. He watched her masturbate for a little longer before putting his hand over hers to stop her. Leaning forward, he began to lick and nibble on the lips of her sex. The ogress moaned in delight at the boy's attentions as she let the last of her meal slip into her belly. Pulling her hand away she relaxed into the chair giving small appreciative moans at the farmer's efforts.

After a few minutes he could tell that she was getting antsy, it felt good, but he wasn't giving her clit any attention and she would never cum at this rate. The farmer pulled away then taking one of her legs in hand he propped it up over the arm of her chair then did the same with the other leg opening her up and making her scoot her butt closer to the edge.

She gave him a questioning look, "What are you up too?"

He smiled, "You'll find out soon had your fun with me, now it's my turn."

"What do you mean it's your tuuUUURRN!" she ended in a surprised shriek as the farmer boy leaned down started tracing small circles around her engorged clit with his tongue. Her claws scraped along the stone chair as her body tensed up from him gently sucking her nubbin into his mouth.

"Scamp!" she panted, "You were just teasing me! I didn't think a youngling like you would know what that was."

He had let go of her clit and was licking and nibbling his way around the entrance to her pussy. He looked up at her and smiled, "That's not all I've learned" then darted down to the pucker of her backdoor. As his tongue came into contact with her anus it felt like a jolt of electricity ran straight to her clit. The ogress leaned back and let out a high-pitched screech as he continued to rim her out. None of her captives had shown any interest in her rear. Then again, captured bandits and ruffians didn't make the best lovers to begin with. Most were too terrified to do anything more than needed to survive.

He made his way back up to her clit making her moan once again in building ecstasy but while his mouth was occupied with her clit his hands were taking her pussy juices and smearing them all over her rear entrance, making her hips buck with pleasure. Gently, he eased one slickened finger past the muscular ring of her sphincter. Another soon joined it as he constantly teased her clit with his tongue.

The boy could tell she was getting very close and wanted to make this memorable for her with his last trick. When he felt she was only a few seconds away from her climax he slipped a third finger into her anus and began moving them in and out. Three fingers on his other hand slid into her pussy, curling his fingers upwards. Finding the small rough spot he began to gently massage it while keeping up his relentless oral attack on her clit.

Her cries of pleasure turned into a roar as the ogress exploded. Tensing up, she lifted herself out of the chair, supported only by her legs over the arms and her head on the back. Her arms flailed about in the throes of her orgasm, searching for something nearby to grab ahold of. The young man ducked away as she tried to grab his head and hold it to her clit. He had no desire to find out what kind of damage her claws could do when she wasn't in control of them.

The pressure on his fingers was intense and he winced in pain as her pussy and ass clamped down. Even as he gritted his teeth from the pain he couldn't help looking forward to how that would feel around his cock. As the ogress's body began to relax the young man slowly slipped his fingers out of her. Smiling as she let out a low growl of satisfaction.

He had recovered from the blowjob earlier and lined his stiff prick up with her entrance. Pushing forward he buried himself in her dripping wet pussy in one stroke. She moaned again as he filled her sex, trembling as another small orgasm swept through her body. Reaching up under her fur brassiere, he began pinching and tweaking her nipples as their groins slapped wetly together. She seemed to be building quickly towards another big climax which was good for the farmer. Even though he had just come a little while ago her insides gripped his cock so tightly he was having a hard time holding back his own release. After only a couple minutes her legs came off the arms of the chair and wrapped around him, holding him in place as she roared her way through another earth-shattering orgasm. Though he couldn't move in and out, the inside of her sex rippled up and down with her climax, the added sensation sent him over the edge as well. Grabbing tightly to her breasts, which only seemed to set her off again, he pushed even further into her and did his best to paint her cervix white with his seed.

As they both came down he leaned forward onto her chest as his cock gradually shrank inside her. Orgasmic aftershocks made the ogress's pussy squeeze him every so often, as though not wanting to let him go.

Nestling his head between her large breasts he asked, "What's your name?"

She chuckled, "You ask that after our second time together, we seem to have disrupted the order these things are properly done. My name is Ikuno."

"Ikuno…. It's pretty. I've never met someone with that name before"

"Not surprising, I come from a far-off land," she put a hand on his back letting him know she wanted him to stay inside her as she lowered her feet to the floor. "I was traveling in this area with a merchant caravan when we were attacked by bandits. The rest of the caravan was killed but the raiders thought I was one of the ogres that live in this region and tried to recruit me. I escaped as soon as I could. A few days later I found this cave and I've been living here ever since."

"You aren't an ogre?" he asked.

"In a way I am, we are in the same family but in my land, we are called oni."

"Oni… certainly better sounding than 'ogre'," he said jutting out his jaw and grunting.

"I agree," she said, chuckling as she ran her fingers through his hair and down his back. "In my homeland oni are both revered and feared as powerful spirits. Unlike here where the ogres are considered dangerous nuisances."

The farmer finally let his softened member slip free of the oni. Her muscles gripped him as he pulled out and her sex closed up without letting even a drop of his cum escape. He walked over to his discarded clothes as she rubbed her lower belly. "Your seed feels wonderful inside me," she said.

"It's not like that much comes out, I'm surprised you can even feel it," said the man.

"You don't know much about monster girls, do you?" He shook his head. "Maybe I'll go into specifics later but for now I'll just say that almost all monster girls feed off a man's essence in some way. A man's essence is very concentrated in his seed. I can't feel what you left inside me, but I can feel your essence seeping into me."

"Essence? Are you stealing my life away!?" he said with alarm.u

"Nothing so crude, though there are some monster girls who will not just drain your essence but take your life along with it. Those ones need to be avoided at all costs. I only take what you give to me and human males replenish their essence very quickly. Quite simply, I could not drain you quickly enough to kill you that way. If I were to try, you would likely die of thirst from nonstop sex." Ikuno rubbed her belly again, "I wish that I could make other monster girls understand how much better it feels when essence is freely given instead of raping or coercing it out of men." She smiled at him, "I feel so good it seems like I should be glowing right now."

He smiled in return, satisfied that she wasn't trying to suck his life out of him.

"It's your turn now," said Ikuno once he was dressed, "I've given you my name, now tell me yours."

The farmer boy turned towards her and bowed with a grace that seemed out of place with his peasant clothing. "My name is…"

"BEAST!" came a bellow from the direction of the cave entrance, "YOU HAVE SLAIN A KNIGHT OF THE LION'S SHIELD! COME FORTH AND RECEIVE YOUR JUDGMENT!"

The young man stared wide-eyed in the direction of the voice then looked over at the oni. Scowling she stood up and adjusted her furs, "Come, boy, let's see what issue these moronic knights have with me." She smiled down at him, "this should make an interesting distraction while you recover your strength." Walking towards the cave entrance, she reached back and flipped up the strip of leather covering her rear. Looking back at him she said in a low husky voice, "There's territory I wish for you to explore before I let you return home."

As he trotted after her, the boy hoped that his half-hard cock would be gone by the time they reached the mouth of the cave.

Three knights sat astride their horses outside the cave entrance. Two had squires in tow while the third's only company was a packhorse. The empty, blood-stained saddle telling of a recent tragedy that had befallen the missing squire. The knight in the middle sucked in a deep breath to bellow another challenge.

"Oi, oi, oi," the oni interrupted. The knight's bellowing challenge escaped in a sharp wheeze instead. "Enough with the yelling into my home, what business do you have with me?"

The lead knight recovered quickly, "You stand accused of killing Sir Michael of the Order of the Lion's Shield! What say you?!"

"Who, may I ask, has accused me as such?" There was a calmness about the way Ikuno was speaking that the farmer boy found unnerving.

"A young man in the nearby village swore that you were the one the end good Sir Michael's life. Others in the village stated that you had been terrorizing them for years stealing children and livestock!" The knight was getting so worked up the farmer boy could see specks of froth start to form in the corners of his mouth.

"Young man you said? Are you certain it wasn't a young girl?"

"You dare mock my intelligence!" yelled the knight while drawing his sword, "I am not such a fool as to not know the difference between a boy and a girl!"

"Perhaps you can tell the difference between boy and girl. However, you appear to be lacking the ability to tell lies from the truth." Ikuno's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Besides myself, there was only one other who was witness to your 'good'," the word dripped with scorn, "Sir Michael's end."

"So, you admit to killing him!" the lead knight bellowed triumphantly, leveling his sword at Ikuno.

"I said nothing of the sort, merely that I was a witness to his death along with a young girl. Leading me to question any accusations coming from a young _boy_ that I was Sir Michael's murderer. Addressing your other claims: Ogres from my homeland are much more civilized and have no taste for human flesh. If the humans are missing their whelps it's not to end up on my dinner table. Livestock that wanders into my hunting grounds is a large and easy meal for me. I see no need to apologize for losses from their shepherd's inattentiveness."

The second knight was leaning forward listening attentively. "You certainly don't sound like any ogre I have seen before. In fact, if I were to close my eyes I would think you were of noble birth." He turned to the young man, "and you certainly don't look like an ogre's 'husband'. Those I have seen were bruised, battered and longing for the peace of death's embrace."

Ikuno's face flushed a deep purple as she blushed, "He's not…"

The farmer boy stepped forward and bowed deeply, "I am not her husband, good sir. However, it was through Milady's acts that my ailing mother was saved from death and myself saved from slavery. I owe Milady a debt of gratitude I can never fully repay. Though she stated that she needed no recompense, I am here today to place myself at her service before I return to tending my farm. I plan to make many more of these trips until Milady tells me that she no longer needs or wants my services."

The knight's face hardened as the boy spoke. "Young man perhaps you feel it appropriate to jest at my expense. I assure you that is unwise. In all of the realms I have traveled, no farmer speaks with such eloquence. It would do you well to be forthright about your true profession when speaking to a knight."

The farmer's eyes went wide as his expression became panicked. Desperately, he looked up at the blue oni next to him as he tried to figure out what exactly he had done wrong.

Ikuno smirked. "Though I don't believe you to be a liar, you may want to offer up some explanation as to why you speak like that. I'm having as difficult of a time as Sir Knight in believing you are just a lowly farmer."

The young man thought for a moment before turning to the knight, "My sincerest apologies, Sir Knight, I meant no disrespect. My grandmother had wished for my mother to be taken in by the staff of a lord or lady and trained her in many useful skills towards that end. Sadly, my mother fell in love with a local farm boy before that could happen. Not wanting to see her skills wasted she passed them on to me. In fairness, this is the first time I have ever spoken to someone highborn like yourself. Again, I meant no offense."

The knight chuckled. "An intelligent blue ogre and a farmer who sounds like a noble. You two are certainly an interesting pair. I'd like to interview this young girl you speak of and see if she has any more to add before we pass judgment."

The lead knight sputtered, "She all but admitted to killing Sir Michael! We should slay her now!"

The farmer took an unconscious step in front of the blue Oni, hands balled into fists and body tensed to defend her from an attack. A snort of laughter came from behind him and he looked up at Ikuno in confusion.

She made a waving motion with her hand, the struggle to not laugh painted on her face. "It's nothing. It's nothing. You are just too cute." She said with a smile. The farmer boy was trying to figure out how anything could be funny while having a knight's sword pointed at you.

The third knight chose then to speak. "I too am curious about what the girl may have to say, assuming she can be found. As I have the fastest horse and a spare for the girl, I shall return to the village and attempt to locate her."

Ikuno stepped forward, "Find the boy who reported me and ask if he has a sister. She seemed terribly concerned about what her brother would think. It may be a good place to start."

The third knight nodded in response then spun his horse around and galloped off in the direction of the village. The packhorse close on his heels.

"He will be gone a few hours at least," said the second knight. He then turned to his squire, "there was a small glade off the path that looked like a good place for a meal." A couple of clicks of the tongue at his horse and the knight and squire rode back up the path they used to get to the cave.

The lead knight watched his companion leave with annoyance. Once the other knight was out of earshot he turned back to the oni and the farmer, "Manipulative bitch! I will have your head as a trophy!"

Ikuno walked over to the shield embossed with a roaring golden lion's head hanging from the horse's tack. Tracing the outline of the lion with a claw she said quietly, "Do you know why the oliphaunt is not scared of the lion?"

The sound of metal being punctured rang through the clearing. The onini held up the knight's shield by the claw that was now sticking through it.

"Because the lion is no threat to the oliphaunt." She let the shield slide off her claw to hang at the horse's side once again. A neat hole now adorning the middle of the lion's forehead.

Burning hatred and no small amount of fear blazed in the knight's eyes as he glared at her. Sword still in hand, he dug his spurs into the horse's flanks and galloped off after his fellow knight.

Ikuno watched him go then turned back to the farmer boy, "A couple of hours till they get back hmm?" She walked past him back into the cave, swinging her hips from side to side. The leather that covered her rear flipped around in ways that teased and tantalized about what lay beneath. "I think I can come up with a good way to spend that time," she said giving the farmer boy a sultry look over her shoulder.

He had certainly gotten his strength back and was ready for more. H was also very happy he didn't need to worry as much about the tent in his pants going into the cave as he had on the way out.

She looked down at him as he caught up, "Before I get too distracted, what is your name?"

He smiled, "Kal… my name is Kal."

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Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eager as Kal had been for some more intimate time with Ikuno, the knight's talk of food had gotten to him. As they walked back into the main living area of the cavern his stomach growled noisily. He stopped in embarrassment, his hands covering the offending body part. Ikuno kept walking over to a small set of wooden shelves that appeared to be made from lashed-together saplings with crude planks fitted in for holding items. She grabbed a cloth wrapped bundle and tossed it to Kal. "Here eat this before that knight comes charging in here hoping to kill a giant frog," she laughed.

"Really…" he answered glaring at her, he couldn't keep up the annoyed act for more than a few seconds before breaking down and laughing along with the oni. He opened the cloth packet to find some dried meat and cheese. The meat he guessed to be venison though he couldn't place the spices she had used, the cheese tasted like it was made from goat's milk but was firmer than he was accustomed.

As he ate, he took in his surroundings, having been too distracted to truly examine Ikuno's home before. It appeared to be around twenty-five paces long and close to ten wide, with a vent hole in the middle of the vaulted roof that smoke from the torches made its way up to before disappearing into the darkness. On one side of the room was an oven that had been carved out of a boulder, much like the stone chair, the top polished to an almost mirror finish that Ikuno was able to cook directly on without the need for pans. To the left of the oven was her makeshift shelving where she kept all her cooking ingredients and where she had gotten his snack from. A few feet away from the other side was the oni's bed, piled high with thick furs. Kal figured that keeping warm on cold winter nights was easier with the heated rock of the oven close by.

Having already finished her own food, Ikuno walked past him and set a white gourd-shaped bottle and a small ceramic cup on the bed then began undoing the buckles and ties that held on her meager clothing. Kal watched entranced as her top came off revealing a wonderful set of large blue breasts, each almost as big as his head and topped by dark blue areola the size of his palm. Her nipples were easily as thick as one of his fingers and were noticeably hard.

She ran her hands down her breasts, brushing the nipples with her fingers, then down into the belt that held the furs covering her front and rear. Turning away from Kal she slowly pulled the leathers down revealing the blue globes of her ass followed by her rear pucker and finally her sex which was glistening wetly in the torchlight. Kal was reminded again how much bigger than him she was as she bent over and shook her ass at him. If he wanted to walk over and slip his tongue inside her he would barely have to bend his knees.

Thinking that sounded like fun, he took a step forward. However, the oni had been watching him and quickly stood up, moving out of reach. "Finish your food and tour," she said picking up the bottle and cup before laying on the bed, "growling bellies can ruin the mood almost as fast as a bunch of obnoxious knights." Pouring the contents of the bottle into the small cup she raised it up as if making a toast. "I'm going to enjoy some saké while you explore."

"Saké?"

"Kind of like your corn whiskey but made from rice." Ikuno downed the clear liquid in the cup, "Onis love the stuff regardless of our color but if we drink too much our skin turns red and we will stay drunk for days, months or even years. Heaven help the poor man who gets caught by a red Oni. If he's lucky she will be too drunk to keep him from escaping, if not then she's likely to accidentally fuck him to death."

"What a way to go," said Kal popping a piece of cheese into his mouth and continuing his inspection of the cave. Towards the back of the cavern, there were no torches and as he got closer he could see large rectangular shapes in the darkness. Once his eyes adjusted to the light he was able to make out two large sets of carefully crafted shelves covered with rows and rows of…

"Books!" he exclaimed with surprise looking back and forth across the shelves. "Where on earth did you get so many?"

The small cup paused on its way to the oni's lips. Confused, the Ikuno looked up, "You know how to read?"

Kal kept scanning the shelves with excitement, "My gran thought knowing how to read would be useful for my mother and bought a couple of books so she could learn; as I told the knight, my mother passed that on to me. We only have three, but I've probably read them hundreds of times."

"A farmer who can read, you seem to be full of surprises Kal. There's a table back there with a globe on a stand. Touch the globe."

Stepping to the very back of the cave Kal saw a table by the wall with a chair next to it. The stand atop the table was a piece of polished wood with the lower leg and claws of some reptile or bird sticking out, in the claws was a ball made of clear crystal. Wondering why she would want him to touch something that looked so valuable he lightly tapped the globe. Pure brilliant light came flooding out of the crystal ball sending stabbing pain into Kal's eyes, which had become accustomed to the dark. Covering his eyes Kal stumbled out of the oni's library in pain and confusion, only to be met by uproarious laughter coming from the bed. Once his eyes had recovered he glared at the bed's occupant who had curled up into a ball and was holding her belly from laughing so hard, one hand holding the bottle upright so she wouldn't spill its contents. Ikuno looked up and saw him glaring at her, she sat up and tried to put on a straight face but that only lasted a second before she broke down into new peals of laughter collapsing back onto the bed.

"You could have warned me!" Kal said, trying to sound hurt, but the oni's mirth was infectious and her naked body was reminding him of what was soon to come. It's hard to stay mad at a woman you are about to sleep with.

Ikuno sat up again, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, "My apologies Kal, I thought you knew it was a magic lantern."

Eyes wide with wonder Kal looked over at the glowing orb again, "That's magic?"

Ikuno smiled, "Yes, books are expensive and some of those are irreplaceable magical tomes. It would not do well to have torches near them. Touch the globe again to put the lantern out and come to bed, you can peruse my collection later. There are other things I would like to do before Sir Knight of such and such gets back."

Kal cautiously approached the table and tapped the crystal ball again plunging him into darkness. "Well this looks familiar," he said peering into the darkness as his eyes adjusted once again.

"Let's see if we can do something that feels familiar too," said Ikuno from the bed.

Kal turned around and stepped out of the library to see the blue oni lying on her back sideways across the bed, her head hanging off the side and mouth open as she beckoned him over. Kal shed his clothing as he approached, a smile coming to the oni's face when his pants came off and she saw he was already hard.

He stopped just before reaching her and looked down smiling, "Perhaps it was a good thing it was dark the last time. If I didn't already know how good it felt I would be terrified of letting those fangs close to me."

Ikuno just smiled and reached out to grab his hips, pulling him to her. Instead of going into her mouth she pushed his cock up and licked her way down the underside to his balls as she drew him in. Kal groaned as her tongue went to work caressing each in turn and even taking one then the other into her mouth and sucking gently then finally taking both in her mouth at the same time as she teased them with her tongue. Slowly sliding them out of her mouth she placed a small kiss on each and asked Kal, "Would you like to see some more magic?"

Kal groaned at the lack of stimulation, "That felt pretty magical to me but if you have something else in mind…"

Ikuno closed her eyes and placed her lips against the base of his cock, she began whispering words that seemed to ring strangely in Kal's ears. As she spoke the air around them almost hummed with energy and her words took on a deep eerie echo. As she finished speaking she grasped his hips to hold him firmly in place and nicked the base of his cock with one of her fangs, mixing the couple of drops of blood with some that she got from biting her own lip she used her long tongue to paint a ring around the base of Kal's penis. When the sides of the circle came together all of the built-up energy in the room seemed to rush into his groin. His cock appeared to glow for a moment before everything returned to normal, the ring disappearing as the spell completed. Kal tried to pull away now that fear was no longer rooting him in place, but Ikuno held him firm. She spoke a few more words, less powerful but still strange to the young farmer, then licked the wounds she had made on his penis as well as her lip, both of them closing and healing over without a trace.

Kal's eyes were wide and he was visibly shaking when Ikuno finally let him go, "What!?... What did you do to me!?" he said in a voice that bordered on hysteria.

Ikuno rolled over and took in the shaking boy, immediately regretting not letting him in on her plan. She got off the bed and stepped towards him, "Kal, I'm Sorr…"

Wild-eyed, Kal backpedaled away from her looking towards the cavern exit. Before he could bolt, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm pulling him into her embrace. Kal's entire body stiffened with fear. "Be calm Kal," she whispered stroking his head and back, "I didn't do anything bad to you, I was just so excited that I forgot you have no experience with magic. Relax and I'll tell you about your new gift."

Over the next few minutes, Kal slowly relaxed in Ikuno's arms until with a shuddering sigh he slumped into her chest. "I think I'm okay now," he said.

"You continue to surprise me, farmer boy," she said with a smile. "I didn't think you would recover that quickly. Now, as for the spell, would you like me to explain it to you, or just show you? I'll give you a hint: showing you will be a lot more fun."

"I could use some fun right now," he replied, sounding weary.

"Good choice!" she picked him up and laid him on the bed. Kal already knew she was strong but wasn't sure he liked being manhandled so easily. "First things first," she said then bent down and took his now soft cock into her mouth, worries about being manhandled winked out of existence as his prick disappeared behind her soft lips. Ikuno bobbed up and down as her tongue swirled around Kal's quickly growing prick. Within moments she had brought him back to full hardness.

"Now watch carefully," she said as she got on the bed and swung a leg over to straddle his hips, his hard cock now pointed directly up at Ikuno's pussy. "I really enjoyed having you inside me earlier, but I'm a big woman so I like things a bit more my size."

Kal's eyes widened as his penis suddenly grew and thickened into something more appropriate for his oni companion. Ikuno rubbed her nether lips over the head of his cock getting him lined up with her entrance then slowly slid down his, now considerable, length. "It's… a …. compatibility enchantment," she panted as she started to raise and lower herself, his new size was getting wonderfully deep and the larger girth was hitting all the right spots inside. "Oh fuck, that's good," she whispered.

Kal couldn't help but agree, feeling his cock bottom out with each stroke was amazing and the friction from the added thickness left him speechless. Ikuno began to pick up the pace riding him harder and harder until she dropped herself down and moaned through her first climax. Kal was tempted to let himself go as her sex rippled up and down his length, same as it had before only far more intense this time, but through force of will managed to hold back.

Ikuno sat in a state of bliss, occasional aftershocks squeezing the cock inside her. Kal tapped her on the leg and indicated for her to raise up. Tightening around him as she lifted Kal had to once again fight back the urge to cum. Sliding out from beneath her gave him the little bit of time he needed to bring himself back from the edge. Kal scooted around behind Ikuno and with a hand on her back directed her to bend over.

Ikuno looked back at him and wiggled her ass, "There's some salve on the shelf you can use for lube," she said.

"Not yet, but soon," he grunted. With her being so much larger than him he guided her hips down until her sex lined up with his raging prick. Pushing forward Kal sank back into the wonderous heat of Ikuno's pussy, the oni moaning into the bed furs as he filled her. Taking hold of her hips he thrust into her a couple of times to get used to his new length, then gripping her tightly began to speed up until he was slamming into her without mercy. Ikuno pushed back into him enjoying the feeling of his cock lightly brushing her cervix each time he filled her, small mini orgasms rippled through her sex as she built up to another larger climax.

Kal continued pounding the nearly insensate oni, the constant gripping and rippling around his cock speeding him towards his own release. The familiar tingling was all the warning he got before his fingers sunk into the oni's hips and he buried himself inside her, pulse after pulse of cum erupting from his cock and filling her with his seed. The feeling of Kal's essence pouring into her triggered Ikuno's own climax. Pushing back into him, she lifted her head and let out a deafening roar as she came.

The oni collapsed onto the bed furs as her orgasm subsided, pulling off of Kal's still half-hard cock as she did, unlike last time he was still coated with a mixture of his seed and her juices. Ikuno rolled over onto her side, seeing Kal's predicament and still too winded to talk she motioned him to come closer. Crawling up the bed he presented his now drooping penis to her, the oni then leaned over and gently took him in her mouth using her tongue to softly clean his over-sensitive prick. Finishing up she pulled away and planted a small kiss on its head.

"That's too tasty of a treat to let go to waste," she said grinning up at Kal. She lay back down on her side and raised an arm up as an invitation to lay down next to her, "I have set up a ward that will wake me when the someone gets close to the cave, how about a nap while we wait for the knights to come back."

"Sounds wonderful," replied Kal lying down next to her. As he was getting comfortable he stopped and chuckled, "I had always thought the first time I did this _I_ would be the bigger one."

* * *

The Knights of the Lion's Shield made their way down the narrow trail, the three knights and two squires now accompanied by a dejected looking teenage girl on the last horse. They stopped with the blue ogre's cave a short way ahead, the other two pulling up beside the knight who had brought the girl.

"Did she speak to you Brother Corrin?" asked one of the knights. "Did she witness this ogre killing Sir Michael? I'd like to be done with this blue bitch and be on our way."

"Peace, Brother Galen, she was only able to get out a few words before she broke down in tears to the point she couldn't speak. However, from what I could make out I'm certain this is the girl we were looking for." Corrin's face darkened as he remembered the girl's sobbing tale.

"Something bothers you, Brother Corrin?" said the other knight.

"Yes Brother Balthus, but it can wait until after our business here is done. I recommend we go in fully prepared for a fight."

Galen grinned with excitement, "Squire! Assist me!" He directed his horse away from the group and dismounted, his squire rushing over to help.

Balthus looked back at his own squire, "Boy, assist Sir Corrin with his armor and battle preparations," turning back to Corrin he said, "I believe I'll be sitting this one out."

Corrin looked at Balthus with confusion, "It's unlike you to seem so confident in Brother Galen and myself."

"On the contrary Brother Corrin, I fully believe that this one is far out of our ability to handle. We are knights, not paladins, I have a strange feeling only a paladin could hope to stand up to her. She certainly is no normal ogre."

"While I must agree that I have never seen a blue ogre before or one so well spoken I don't see why you think she would give us difficulty."

"Her horns Brother Corrin, ogre horns grow very slowly all of the green ogres we have dispatched have had small black spikes that were barely longer than their hair could cover. This one has those long curving golden horns," Balthus held his fingers up in an approximation of their length, "I believe that one has been on this earth for a very long time and that we are not the first of our kind she has had to deal with."

"If you are correct Brother Balthus, then would it not be wise to turn away from this confrontation?"

"And have Galen bring us up before tribunal for cowardice? Not on your life! Let the young hothead take the lead on this. If I'm wrong, he will have no trouble dispatching her and he can go revel in his glory and women. However, If I am right then we will be there to step in and save his arse."

The knights looked over as they heard Galen yelling at his squire before cuffing him upside the head and knocking the boy to the ground. Shaking his head Balthus continued, "His posturing works with peasants and such, but he has never faced something that could kill him with ease. Something happened between them after you and I left, something that scared him badly and he hasn't been taking it well."

"You hope to use this as a lesson? You play a dangerous game, Brother Balthus. If you lose and Brother Galen dies, I'd be honor bound to cut you down myself."

"I wouldn't do this if I truly feared for Galen's life. However, if I'm wrong and he dies, I'll offer my head without a fight. If you'll excuse me I'm going to try talking to the girl as you get prepared."

Corrin nodded solemnly then motioned for Balthus's squire to follow him.

"One moment Sir Corrin I need to speak with Sir Balthus for a moment," said the squire.

"Only a moment, squire. I don't wish to be in these woods come nightfall." Corrin replied.

The squire brought his horse up beside Balthus's and leaned over, a look of worry on his face, "You aren't giving me to him, are you?" he whispered anxiously glancing over at where Galen's squire was slowly getting up from being knocked down yet again. The boy wiped his nose with the back of his hand, both knight and squire could see red streak it left.

"Sir Corrin has never treated his squires like that, but no Jamus I'm not giving you away. If I did that then I would have to be the one setting up camp, making dinner, brushing horses and gathering firewood. Sounds like too much work for an old man like me, your position is secure." Balthus said smiling. "Go, attend to Sir Corrin now. I agree with him that it would be good to conclude our business and be out of these woods before nightfall." Relieved, Jamus nudged his horse over to where Sir Corrin waited for him.

"And now for you, young lady," said Balthus bringing his horse next to hers. The girl shied away from him leaning away and holding her hands up in defense. Balthus stopped in confusion, some people were wary of knights, but her reaction was extreme. She was completely terrified of him.

"I only want to talk to you. I'm not going to hurt you," he said in a soothing voice.

" 'M sorry sir, but I don' believe you," she whimpered.

Balthus was taken aback, "Why is that?"

"Cuz the last un' hurt me, sir,"

"The last one?" Balthus glanced over at Sir Corrin.

"Not 'im sir, but 'e did 'ave my brother thrown in stocks for lying," the girl began sobbing, "and he's going to beat me so bad when I get 'ome." she wailed, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

Balthus snapped his fingers in front of her face startling her before she got too wound up, "Stay with me for a moment longer. The other knight, how did he hurt you?" Instead of answering the girl reached back and covered her backside. Balthus's eyes widened in comprehension and he swore under his breath. Bowing to the girl he said, "Thank you for your time, good lady. I'll trouble you no further." Balthus turned away and trotted his horse over to where Jamus was cinching down the straps on Sir Corrin's armor.

"Do you have an alternative?" Balthus snapped.

Corrin looked up, studying Balthus's face he realized that the girl had told him, or at least told him enough. Corrin sighed, "Not yet but I'm trying to find one. Your help would be appreciated."

Balthus nodded and turned his horse away growling in frustration.

Jamus glanced between the two knights, unsure of what was going on. He was certain though that he had never seen his master so upset before.

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Three Knights of the Order of the Lion's Shield stood in the clearing surrounding the cave. It was quiet save for the soft munching of horses nibbling grass near the wood line far off to one side. The squires tended to the steeds and made sure their leads were secured to nearby trees, it was better to be safe than spend hours chasing one down that decided to bolt for whatever reason, despite being trained as warhorses to be calm even in the heat of battle. Nearby sat a young teenage girl looking sad and dejected as she hugged her knees to her chest, gently rocking to calm her nerves.

The two knights in full armor stood directly before the cave entrance while the last observed from a short distance off and had settled on wearing only a chainmail hauberk. His position clearly separating himself from the other two but still close enough to come to their aid if needed.

The lead knight from before stepped forward, "OGRE! WE HAVE BROUGHT THE GIRL! SHOW YOURSELF!" The other two knights took notice as the young girl's head came off her knees and she began paying attention.

"Oi, oi, oi, again with the screaming and yelling," the blue ogre grumbled as her and the farmer boy from earlier stepped into the light at the mouth of the cave. "Couldn't you just tap your sword against your shield a few times and give a nice friendly 'Helloo!'?"

The young girl stared intently at the large blue woman, she seemed so familiar, but….

The blue ogre scanned the clearing, taking in each of the knights and the horses off to the side before her eyes came to rest on the girl, giving her a gentle, if toothy, smile. The girl's face lit up with recognition and she jumped to her feet with a squeak, running across the clearing toward the ogre.

"Stop her!" screamed the lead knight at the squires, both of them dropping the gear they had been gathering for the upcoming battle and running after the fleeing girl.

The knight in chainmail raised his hand, "Hold!" he yelled to the squires as the girl ran a few steps in front of him and into the arms of the now kneeling blue ogre. The squires stopped in their tracks and the knight waved them back to continue their preparations.

"What is the meaning of the Sir Balthus!" the lead knight's face was almost purple with rage. "Now she can use the girl as a hostage!"

"Calm yourself, Sir Galen. That is not the scene of a villain who has just had a convenient hostage delivered to them," said Balthus.

Galen turned and looked. The ogre was on one knee gently embracing the girl as she sobbed into the larger woman's shoulder babbling on about her brother and knights and many other things Sir Galen couldn't make out. The ogre petted the sobbing girl, whispering soothing words as she stroked the girl's head and back. It seemed almost motherly.

This only infuriated Galen more. Ogres weren't motherly! They were vile beasts who captured and enslaved human males then fucked them almost to death, and when a man couldn't get it up any longer from her constant abuse she ate him! Usually without the decency of killing him first! This was a ruse! It had to be! Ogres don't act like this, blue skin or not!

Balthus watched as a wide array of emotions played across the young knight's face, finally settling on white, incandescent rage directed at the blue ogre. He sighed inwardly then caught the attention of the other knight, "Will this do as an alternative, Sir Corrin?"

Corrin glanced at the girl and ogre then back at Balthus, "As long as she understands the rules and assuming you are correct about the blue one's abilities. Yes, I would accept this."

Balthus nodded and turned back to the scene at the cave entrance.

As the girl settled down the ogre gently pulled her away, "Young one, I'm going to tell these men about what happened to you and Sir Michael, is that okay?"

The girl winced at the memory then blushed heavily in embarrassment. Noticing movement to one side she looked at Sir Balthus and saw understanding in his eyes. Checking the other two she realized that Sir Corrin also knew. The ogre turned back to the girl, "It looks as though two of them already know, I will just be filling in details. Can I tell them?" The girl looked at the two knights she had spoken with then back to the ogre and nodded slowly.

"Very good," said the ogre then turned to the young man beside her, "Kal?"

"Yes Ikuno?" said the boy.

"Take her inside and lay her down on my bed, the poor girl is exhausted. Hurry back but don't come too close in case things go bad."

"Yes ma'am," Kal extended his hand to the girl, "Would you be so kind as to come with me? Ikuno has a place where you can rest."

The girl looked hesitantly at the ogre.

Ikuno smiled at her, "Kal is a fine young man and my servant for today. I trust him, and you can too."

The girl nodded then turned to Kal, taking his offered hand and allowing herself to be led away.

"Alright ogre! Enough of your games!" growled Galen, "What happened to Sir Michael!"

"Oni," said Ikuno.

"What?" asked Galen, taken aback by the odd answer. Balthus and Corrin, however, were now listening intently.

"I'm an oni, not an ogre," she explained, "While distantly related I don't much appreciate being mistaken for one of my stupid and violent cousins."

Galen scowled, "Ogre or oni it makes no difference, get on with your tale!"

Ikuno sighed, "As you wish," She noticed, however, that Balthus seemed to be very annoyed with Galen judging by the look on his face "The day that I saw Sir Michael…

* * *

Hunting had gotten slim in the vicinity of her cave and today she was on the very edge of her hunting grounds not far from a human village. She tended to avoid humans, more so now as a string of thieves attracted to her cave by promises of riches, combined with the poor hunting, had made her irritable enough to turn her skin green. The thought of being mistaken for one of those moronic ogres did not lighten her mood. Another issue making her unusually ill- tempered was that it had been far too long since she had a man.

The caravan she traded with was a half day's journey north and only came by every few years, occasionally she could buy herself a night with an adventurous merchant or passenger. Sadly, her skin had turned mostly green the last time they were in the area and she had barely been able to buy their small supply of saké. Luckily one of the older merchants remembered her and had saved some of his stock just for the strange blue ogre. Too old to take care of her needs himself, he had offered up one of his servant boys. Unfortunately, the poor thing was so scared of her that she left without getting any relief, insisting the merchant keep the payment as an apology for terrifying the boy.

She hated to admit it but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she was hunting so close to a village in hopes of running across a male who might be interested in a quick tumble.

To make matters worse she had begun to hear rhythmic cries out here in the woods of a couple who had the same thing on their mind. She quietly followed the noises and came up behind the couple, she couldn't see the girl from this angle, but the man seemed to be somewhat handsome. Strangely he was wearing a full suit of armor which seemed like it would get in the way and was making quite a racket. She began to wonder if he might be up for a go with her once he was done with the maiden, a hand started making its way down towards her…

The wind shifted.

Air currents coming from the direction of the couple brought a new scent to her nose, blood.

Her mind snapped out of its haze of lust as if struck by a lightning bolt. They weren't cries of pleasure but shrieks and sobs of pain and fear. A few quiet strides and her hand closed on the armor's backplate behind his neck. The man shrieked as he suddenly found himself flying backwards. She looked down at the girl who had collapsed when the man went airborne. The girl was trying desperately to scoot away, staring back in fear at what she thought to be a human eating ogre.

The oni fished a small blue vial out of a pouch and held it for a moment while it started to glow then tossed it towards the girl, landing in the leaf litter beside her. "Drink that, I'll take the pain away," she said then turned on her heel and strode in the direction of the armored man. The girl behind her was babbling something about a brother and squires but the oni was no longer listening.

The man had gotten up and ran over to his horse pulling a sword from a scabbard tied to the saddle. She mentally kicked herself for having been too distracted to even notice the horse.

"You'll pay for that you bitch!" he said charging her and bringing his sword across in a long arc to disembowel her. A magic circle formed above her arm and she batted the sword away knocking it from his grasp. Her foot came up and caught him square in the chest, sending him sprawling. She calmly picked up the sword and sliced through the horse's lead rope, freeing it. With a swat on the rump she sent the steed running off into the woods. Glancing back, she saw that the girl had also ran off, hopefully back to her village.

"That girl was mine!" yelled the man as he picked himself up off the ground. "She was given to me so I would take her brother as a squire! You have no right!"

"So, you're a knight," she picked up his sword and stabbed a nearby tree, burying it halfway to the hilt. With an almost lazy twist of her wrist the blade snapped in a shower of sparks, she then casually tossed the remainder of the sword off into the woods. "You had your pick of hundreds of monster girls and no small number of human women you could have chosen to get your dick wet." She said stalking toward the knight. "Damn it! I would have let you fuck ME! Instead, you go and ravish some poor, unwilling peasant girl!" Her voice lowered to a dangerous growl, "You are a special kind of sickness that needs to be scrubbed from this world."

The man wore a mask of confusion, he had dispatched many ogres in his time as a knight and had never heard one speak so plainly and clearly. An ogre using magic like when she batted his sword away was unheard of. Then there was the sword itself. Though frowned upon by the order, he had a strength enchantment put on the blade to prevent it from breaking. Despite that she had snapped it with one hand, something no regular ogre should be able to do. Fear built inside him as he backpedaled, keeping her at a distance. Regardless she kept closing on him with steady measured strides, her face a mask of barely restrained fury.

Suddenly the knight snapped, "I am a Knight of the Lion's Shield! How dare you judge me!" he screamed rushing her and swinging a gauntleted fist with all his might. Her hand closed on his vambrace, stopping his swing, then squeezed down, deforming the metal and crushing his arm. The knight howled in pain, pounding on her fingers in a futile attempt to make her let go until she backhanded him across the face, knocking him out.

She picked him up by the backplate and dragged him through the woods, "I have a friend who is going to enjoy you," she said to the unconscious man. "Too bad for you, she likes her meat tenderized first."

* * *

The clearing was quiet as Ikuno tale came to an end. Kal sat stared wide-eyed at the blue oni, barely believing that the woman he had spent the day with was the same as the one depicted in her story. Thinking back to when he arrived that morning and the imposing, scowling figure with the red glowing eyes that met him, maybe it wasn't so hard to believe.

Galen chuckled for a moment then burst out into laughter, "An ogre that can use magic? Laughable! Is this your paltry attempt to scare us away? I doubt you even saw Sir Michael much less killed him. Snapping his blade one-handed. What nonsense!"

Ikuno sighed, "To be honest I was not the last one to see him alive," she said walking back into a part of the cave still shrouded in darkness, she picked up a bag that made a metallic clinking noise as it moved. "That honor went to a nearby pitcher plant girl I fed him to after throwing him down the side of my little mountain a few times to soften him up. She sent word a few days later that these were making her sick." She tossed the bag into the clearing so it landed right in front of Galen. The satchel burst on impact and plates of severely dented armor that had been pitted and pocked by digestive juices sprayed out around Galen's feet. Even at a distance, Kal could see the roaring lion embossed on some of the pieces.

Shouting with rage Galen fitted his shield on his arm and drew his sword "Heathen bitch! I'll have your head for this!" The knight rushed forward with his sword raised, not bothering to wait for Sir Corrin to ready up so they could attack together. As he swung down a magic circle of blue light formed above Ikuno's forearm and intercepted the blade. His moment of surprise was costly as Ikuno reached around and sunk her claws into his shield, ripping it out of his grasp and tossing it away. By luck, one of her claws had severed the leather strap cinched around the young knight's forearm, preventing the limb from flying across the clearing along with the shield.

However, Galen had come by his title of knight honestly and his sword dipped and dove trying to find a weak point in her defense but no matter which angle he attacked from the blasted magic shield was always there. Soon, his movements became sloppy with frustration. In his time as a knight, no enemy he had yet faced was still breathing after this long. To make things worse he was starting to tire, and she didn't appear to be putting any effort into the fight at all. As his rage faded, it gave way to cold, gut-wrenching fear. Looking at the creature's calm visage he realized that this was not an enemy that he could best, that today might be the day he died. Crying out, he took his sword in both hands and began chopping down on the oni's shield like you would an axe to a fallen log.

"Enough," said Ikuno and swung up with her shield up as the knight swung down with his sword. When they met there was a bright flash and Galen's sword went spinning off behind him. Defenseless the man stepped back, fear etched on his features. Another magic circle formed above the palm her other hand, Ikuno held it out so it pointed at Galen.

"Goodbye, Knight," she said. Spheres of energy streaked out from the sigil in the middle of the circle and impacted Galen in the chest knocking him off balance and making him stumble backwards. He tried to turn to the side to spread out the impact but as though controlled by some spirit they would veer to the side only to streak in and hit his chest plate in the same place time after time. A break in attacks made Galen think that she was done but he looked up in time to see a much larger glowing orb hurtling towards him.

Galen flew into the air when the sphere hit, flipping him over before he landed on his back knocking the air out of him. Immediately the rain of smaller projectiles began again, arcing up over Balthus and Corrin before slamming down onto the prone knight who grunted with each impact. As his chest plate caved in from the constant beating and he could no longer draw breath, the realization that he was about to die began to sink into the young knight. Suddenly, the pounding was gone and Balthus was above him holding up his accursed arm. Runes glowed bright blue as the knight's magic shield stopped the oni's onslaught. Still starved of air, the young man passed out.

"Yield! We yield! Cease your attack!" Balthus yelled over the din of energy impacting his shield.

Ikuno stopped attacking but pointed the magic circle towards Sir Corrin. The knight had only just drawn his sword and taken a few steps forward to aid Galen before realizing how one-sided this battle was. The knight raised his hands in acknowledgment before sheathing his sword and walking over to check on Galen. The shield Balthus had made guttered and died like a flame out of fuel, the runes on his arm fading along with the light from a small crystal he had hanging from a necklace.

Noticing Galen wasn't breathing Balthus immediately started undoing the buckles on the young knight's armor, the chest plate literally popped off as the man's ribs sprung back into place and the knight took a couple of deep gasping breaths before falling into a normal sleeping rhythm.

Balthus looked up at Corrin, "He'll live, he may be so sore tomorrow he'll wish he hadn't, but for now, he'll live." He looked over at the two boys standing nearby with various alternate weapons for the knights in their hands. "Squires! Bring Galen's horse over here!" he yelled to them, "Strip his armor off and put him on it, you'll have to tie him in place so he doesn't fall off before he wakes."

"Bring mine as well," said Corrin, "No need to be wearing all of this armor with no purpose."

Shedding his armor, Corrin joined Balthus as he went to speak to the oni, who was joined again by the farmer boy who had watched from just inside the cave.

"My thanks for sparing my brother's life…" Balthus looked at the boy then back at the oni, "Ikuno, was it?"

Ikuno nodded but Kal spoke up, "He's your brother?!"

Balthus chuckled, "Not by blood, we refer to our fellow knights of the Order as our brothers."

"It seemed to me that you were the one to save Galen, Brother Balthus, why do you say that she spared him?" asked Corrin.

"I believe that if she had wanted Galen dead he would not have even taken a step towards her. Is this not correct?" he said turning back to Ikuno.

Ikuno shrugged, summoning another circle over her palm she pointed it at one of the trees off to the side of the clearing. Energy fired out, instead of a orb, this time it was thin and shaped like a crescent moon. At first, it looked as though the blade passed through without effect. A moment later the tree slid apart along where it had been cut and toppled over.

"It's a gruesome thing to do to a living being," she said with a far-off look, then shook her head as if clearing away memories before turning back to the knights. "Sometimes a good pummeling can make the densest human see reason. I'd rather do that than off-handedly killing them, makes for bad relations with the neighbors."

Balthus sighed, "Speaking of relations with the neighbors I wish to talk with you about the girl."

"What of her?" asked the oni.

"We of the Order cannot have a young girl running around telling people she was taken forcefully by one of ours." Balthus saw Ikuno's face darken and held up a hand. "it's not something I agree with but some of the Order," Balthus's eyes flicked to Sir Corrin, "see it as a necessary evil to maintain our image. That said, she needs to understand that she can never speak of what happened with Sir Michael."

"Understandable, but why are you telling me this?" asked Ikuno, her voice thick with suspicion.

"That brings me to the second issue. She cannot return home."

"Why not?" asked Kal.

Sir Corrin answered, "She spoke to myself and Brother Balthus on the way here, both times she was terrified of what her brother might do to her. From what the townsfolk told me while I was searching for her earlier, both parents are dead and while the brother is taking care of her he also takes out his frustrations on her with frequent beatings. The village apothecary said that after Sir Michael… went missing… she stumbled in beaten to the point that he didn't think she would live. Luckily he found a small vial of blue healing potion in her clothes as he was treating her." Sir Corrin gave Ikuno a knowing look before continuing, "With him losing yet another chance to become a squire as well as being publicly humiliated from my throwing him in the stocks for a few days. He may succeed in what he almost accomplished last time."

"Why did you put him in the stocks?" asked Ikuno.

Sir Corrin frowned, "Knights don't appreciate being lied to"

"Fair enough," said the oni, "but again why are you telling me this?"

Balthus smiled wickedly, "Because by our reckoning you saved her once from Sir Michael and once from her brother; by rights, her life belongs to you twice over"

Ikuno's eyes narrowed as she glared at him, "You bastard… you're dumping her on me!"

Balthus's face went solemn, "If it saves the girl's life as well as saving one of the Order from the nasty business of having to tie up loose ends, then yes, she's your problem now."

Glaring at him for a moment longer Ikuno sighed, "So be it, Kal you are taking her home with you tonight."

"What?" squeaked the farmer in surprise.

"Well she can't stay here with me, you live hours away in the opposite direction of her village and I'm sure you and your mother could use the help on the farm."

Kal thought about what she said for a second before grumbling, "Damn logic."

Ikuno smiled at the knights, "Now that that ugly business is out of the way may I see your crystal, Sir Balthus?"

"I suppose so," he said taking the necklace off and handing it to the oni, "its drained and I doubt one with your power could use it."

Ikuno inspected the crystal, "I have no intention of using it, but I heard something when you had your shield up earlier," turning to the farmer she said, "Kal, on one of the shelves with the books is a small leather bag would you bring it here?"

"Yes ma'am," he said and disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

Turning back to Balthus she said, "I have some far superior crystals and I was curious if you might be interested in a trade?"

"I'm no merchant, what might I have that would interest you?"

"No, certainly no merchant but you do look the type to possibly have a few books lying around?"

Balthus tilted his head to one side, smiling, "Lady Ikuno you drive a hard bargain."

Minutes later Kal was walking the remaining crystals and three newly obtained books back to Ikuno's library as Balthus inspected his new crystal.

As Kal came jogging back Corrin said, "I don't understand what was wrong with the other one?"

Ikuno popped the crystal out of the setting and handed the necklace back to Balthus, "This crystal is flawed, some have flaws so small it doesn't affect them much but this one…." she touched the crystal to her horn and they watched as it slowly began to glow brighter and brighter when it stopped she took it in one hand and pointed it at the other, lightning shot out of the crystal onto her palm accompanied by a high pitched whine that seemed to come from the crystal itself. She did the same thing a second time and the noise got louder, the third time the lightning was less a bolt and more a fan of tiny arcs. A large ball of energy jumped from the crystal to her hand just as the crystal shattered. She looked at Balthus, "You don't want that to happen in the middle of a fight. Now for the new crystal."

Balthus handed it over. When she touched it to her horn it went from dark to full brightness in only a couple seconds. The test on her palm showed a thick solid beam that barely wavered. She touched it to her horn once more and handed it back to him.

"May I," he asked. Getting nods from everyone he stepped back and activated the runes on his arm. The runes flared, and the shield snapped into place almost instantly.

"That is certainly interesting," said Corrin. Ikuno and Kal both looked at him. "This is only the fourth time or so that I've seen his arm put to use so I'm no expert. However, when he went to save our young friend his arm lit up about halfway there, but the shield didn't materialize until just before he got to Galen." Corrin noted the farmer's expression then smiled up at Ikuno, "You may have a bit of a problem there," he said nodding at the boy.

Ikuno looked down at the enraptured look on Kal's face as he watched Balthus test his shield with the new crystal. She couldn't disagree with the knight.

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ikuno and Kal watched as the Knights made their way back towards the village. While Kal wouldn't exactly call them friends, they didn't quite fit into the enemy category either. Feeling that his chances of ever seeing any of them again were slim he put it out of his mind. Looking up at Ikuno he saw that she was studying him intently.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Ikuno was thoughtful as she studied him, "No, nothing is wrong. At least not yet."

"Not yet? That sounds ominous."

"Nothing to worry about right now." She said, smiling. "I'll let you know when the time comes, I don't think you will be disappointed."

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help? I am your servant for the day after all."

Ikuno checked the position of the sun in the sky then turned to Kal, grinning evilly she took his hand and pulled him into the cave, "That's right, servant, you have one more duty to attend to before I let you go."

As they came into the main cavern, soft breathing reminded them that the bed was currently occupied by the sleeping girl. Ikuno led him over to the chair then walked to the end of her bed. Reaching into a pouch she tossed some dust into the air over the girl, summoning another magic circle in her palm she pointed it towards the dust cloud and said a few words. The dust shimmered and sunk down onto the girl's sleeping form, seeming to pass right through the furs covering her.

Ikuno turned and smiled wide, "Sleeping spell, now we don't need to worry about being interrupted."

Kal stepped to the side of the stone chair and bowed low, holding his hands out as if presenting the chair. "Your throne Madame."

Buckles on Ikuno's hides and furs came loose with soft clicks until her clothes made a pile on the floor. She sat on the fur covered chair and daintily crossed her legs placing her hands atop her knee, "Servant," she said archly, "I wish to be tended to, top to bottom."

Kal looked up from his bow, her tone made him worry he has made a mistake until he saw her face and the laughter in her eyes. With another bow accompanied by a comically overexaggerated flourish, he said, "If Milady would lie back I would be more than happy to take care of her every need, top to… bottom."

Ikuno chuckled at their banter and did as he asked, leaning back into the chair and expecting him to put her legs up on the arms like last time. Instead he stripped down and climbed up onto the chair with her, straddling her thighs. His enchanted cock, already hard and grown to her size, was nearly poking her in the belly button.

Ignoring her questioning look he leaned forward and began to softly kiss and nibble one side of her neck. The oni laid her head back and moaned, relaxing into Kal's attentions. Kal kissed his way to her collarbone before making his way down towards her large blue breasts. He brought both hands up and began massaging the soft blue flesh as he lavished attention on her areola. Ikuno moaned as Kal finally took her hardened nipple into his mouth and alternated between flicking and circling her nipple with his tongue, occasionally sucking hard and drawing it deep into his mouth. As Ikuno started to lightly pant from arousal he kissed his way to the valley between her breasts, earning a groan of frustrated annoyance from the oni. He then slowly licked his way all the way back up to the other side of her neck and repeated the process all over again. After a few long minutes of attention to her other breast, her face was flushed purple and her breath came in short gasps punctuated by moans of pleasure.

Kissing his way down the underside of her breast he made his way to her bellybutton as he slid off the chair and stepped between her legs. Continuing down, he kissed and licked his way to the very top of her sex then pulled away, leaving Ikuno groaning in frustration. Lifting one leg he placed it on the arm of the chair as before. Leaning down he let her feel his breath across the lips of her sex before putting his tongue right next to them and dragging it up the inside of her leg, the oni growled with annoyance at being denied yet again. Lifting the other leg and placing it the same way as the first on the chair arm, Kal started by her knee and kissed and nipped his way down the sensitive blue flesh of her inner thigh, stopping again before reaching her pussy. Ikuno was panting with need and breathlessly whispered, "You… bastard."

Kal smiled at how wound up she was. Leaning over he placed his mouth over her clit, making her moan and buck her hips a little. Starting with the lightest of brushes of his tongue he began tracing circles around her pearl. Ikuno tried to press her sex into his face, but he ignored her efforts and only gradually increased the pressure and contact with his tongue.

Kal's hands were busy as he pleasured the blue woman, searching out the small jar of the salve she had spoken of earlier in the day, which he had placed next to the chair on his way back from dropping off her new books. Scooping up a good-sized dollop he let it warm up in his hand for a few moments then smeared the lube on her rear entrance as he sucked her clit into his mouth. Ikuno gasped at the sudden stimulation, raising herself up off the chair and trapping his fingers between her cheeks. Kal relented on her clit and she dropped back into the seat. "More… more… please," she panted.

Even though Kal was hard already, hearing her beg seemed to send another surge to his overgrown cock. Teasing her lips with his tongue he spread the lube around and gently massaged her backside. Giving her clit a few good swipes he slid one finger inside then a second a few moments later. As he prepared a third she clenched and pulled away. She raised her head up and Kal met her gaze, "That's enough, I want you inside me and I want to feel myself stretching around you, the real you." Kal just nodded and got another dollop of salve from the jar, coating his prick thoroughly as Ikuno scooted her butt forward to give him a better angle. Kal noticed that his cock had shrunk back to its normal size which must have been what she meant by 'the real you'.

He placed himself at her backdoor and slowly pushed inside watching as his member disappeared inside her rear end. The tightness around his cock was intense and he was glad he hadn't touched himself as he was getting Ikuno worked up. He was certain he would have already cum if he had.

The blue oni laid her head back again and hissed, "fuck... yessssss," as he continued to slide into her. When she felt the base of his cock bump against her ass she put a hand on his backside to hold him in place. Enjoying the feeling of having him inside her, she began to rhythmically squeeze his invading member.

"Ikuno…" Kal blurted out, her head came up to look at him and she could see him struggling to maintain control, "Too tight… not gonna… last long," he said through gritted teeth.

"It's okay, neither will I. Fuck me Kal, fill me up," she said, removing her hand from his backside to lightly tease her clit.

Kal pulled out slowly then pushed back into her a bit quicker, increasing his tempo with each stroke while looking for any signs of discomfort on her face. Ikuno too was studying her lover's face, changing the speed of her fingers on her clit by how close he was getting. She wasn't sure she could hold out once he was really slamming into her rear but then his hips stuttered as he started to come, fingers digging into her flesh as he thrust into her ass hard enough to push her back on the seat, once, twice, on the third time he buried himself inside her all and began filling her with spunk. The oni howled as she came with the boy, her body going rigid and her ass clamping down on him hard enough to make it hurt but not hard enough to keep him from continuing to soak her insides with his seed.

Spent, Kal leaned forward to catch his breath on Ikuno's heaving chest. After a few minutes, their breathing had returned mostly to normal

Kal looked up at Ikuno, "Wow," was all he said.

Ikuno smiled, "Wow indeed."

Kal leaned back and sighed in contentment. He was sitting in Ikuno's lap and while he still wasn't completely comfortable with being the 'small' one in moments like this it was hard to complain when you had two rather large blue breasts to use as pillows. Also distracting him was Ikuno gently playing with his half-hard member. The oni wasn't trying to get him off or even hard again but the light brushes with her fingers along his length, which for some reason had gotten oni-sized again, felt rather nice.

"I'm curious," said Ikuno, "when you first came to my cave you were a virgin. However, today you have rivaled some of my most skilled lovers. Care to tell me your secret?"

Kal blushed though Ikuno couldn't see it, "There's a lady in my village who lost her husband a few years ago, instead of taking another right away she began taking care of the urges of the single men in town in order to get by, and a few married ones as well if the rumors are true. Before I decided to come back here, I paid the woman for a few days of her time to teach me how to pleasure a woman. Thinking on it I guess I had already decided I was coming back. She even taught me about how to take a woman in the rear though she didn't let me do it to her. I had told her of our first time, leaving out some details obviously, and she said 'letting a man in there is a very important step because for many girls it can be painful. Your first time should be with the girl you are doing this for, not an old whore like me.'"

"Hmmm, money well spent I'd say, I may have to send something with you to give to her as thanks for doing a good job. I'd heard about human women being in pain when taking it in the bottom… wait a second! That's what you were doing! Checking to make sure you weren't hurting me!" Kal looked up and nodded, "Thankfully myself and most monster girls I've heard of don't have such issues and actually enjoy it. Although most all prefer the usual way in hopes of getting pregnant, however, there are some strange ones ."

"Strange ones?"

"Lamias are one of those, where they get rid of waste is down on the snake body. Instead of being attached to the stomach their human bottom is somehow connected to their womb and they can get pregnant either way."

"That is a bit strange, I have a question for you now." Looking down at her hands playing with his overgrown prick he asked, "Why is it big again?"

Ikuno smiled, "The enchantment works a couple of different ways. If you don't do anything it will match you to the size of the woman you are about to sleep with. However, you have a little bit of control over its size, as does your partner if she knows about it. For instance, you can make yourself a little bigger than what the enchantment decides but never enough to do damage, most importantly, she has to want it that big before it will happen at all. Making it smaller is much easier and you or the woman you are with can do so at any time. That's why I wanted your real cock," his cock shrank back to normal size, "in my bottom the first time. Instead of this," Kal's cock grew back to oni-size.

"Quit that, it seems weird.,"

Ikuno laughed and Kal's member switched back and forth repeatedly from oni- to normal-sized until he concentrated in it and it immediately went to normal size and stayed there.

"Awww," she lamented before breaking out in a fit of laughter.

"I had thought that this was just to make me more compatible with you, but I guess it's much more than that."

"Oh yes, much more. You could comfortably fuck anything now even a salamander or dragon girl since the enchantment will protect you from extreme heat or cold as well as other things like poison, slime or digestive juices. Keep in mind, that's only if you and her are going to have sex. If you are looking to get your dick wet and she is just looking for a meal, the enchantment won't activate, along with the protection. There's one more thing I think you should know, though if I'm right about you it will never be an issue. The original creator of this spell had a severe hatred of people like Sir Michael, to the point where the worst offenders would have this spell cast on them as punishment."

"As punishment? How?"

"Hop down. It's best to show you, just don't freak out. The effect is only temporary."

"This won't hurt will it?"

"Maybe your pride a bit" after Kal had gotten off her lap, Ikuno knelt down and leaned over the seat of the chair.

"I do not want you to fuck me," she said sternly, "but in a moment you are going to try anyway understood?"

"Not one bit, but I'll do as you say," replied Kal in confusion. He worked himself up to half-hard but was certain that his member was done for the day.

A minute passed while Ikuno had been repeating something over and over under her breath. Finally, she looked back at Kal, "Okay do it," then went back to her mantra.

Kal lined up with her sex and pushed, sliding easily inside her as his cock decided it might have one more round left in it and began to swell again. The yelp of surprise and dismay was comical for a woman as big as Ikuno, she looked back with disbelief as Kal stroked into her a few times.

"Well dammit."

"What's wrong?" he asked, even though his dick had reacted to slipping inside the oni he still didn't feel like he would be able cum again, though that didn't keep him from wondering if he could get Ikuno off one more time.

"Seems like deep down I really wanted you inside me despite telling myself over and over that I didn't," she backed into him a few times, "Mmmm that's nice, but not helping what I'm trying to show you." She let out a groan as she pulled off the farmer boy. Sitting back in the chair she said, "I was trying to avoid this though it's pretty much guaranteed to work. Look over at the girl, now imagine having sex with her."

He turned and looked at Ikuno.

"No"

Ikuno sighed, "I understand your reluctance, but we already know the enchantment won't react to me. You only need to for a second, I promise."

Kal glared at her then closed his eyes.

A tense moment later Ikuno called softly, "Kal, look down."

Opening his eyes, he looked down to see… balls, he waved his hand where his penis used to be.

He looked at Ikuno, then at his balls, back at Ikuno, then to his balls one more time. Still looking down he said to Ikuno, "You asked me not to, so I'm trying really hard to not freak out right now."

Ikuno scooted forward on the seat and spread her legs, "Come over here and fuck me Kal, I want you inside me." Even as she said the words it was obvious from her face and tone that her heart wasn't in it.

Kal stared at her in disbelief, "How the hell do you expect me to do that with…" he looked down, "oh, it's back." He reached down and turned his cock from side to side inspecting it; after giving it a couple bounces in his palm he determined it was back to normal.

"Since I'm of age and willing once your focus shifted to me the enchantment kicked in and gave it back. It will come back on its own after about an hour or so if nothing triggers it sooner."

"That's wonderful… I'm still in the 'try not to freak out after my dick just disappeared' mindset at the moment, give me a minute please."

"Better to find out now than in the middle of town lusting after some girl who only looks old enough."

"Couldn't you have just told me?" he said, glancing over at the sleeping girl then glaring at the oni. "After everything she's been through, that made me feel… dirty."

"No, I don't think I could have," said Ikuno thoughtfully, "even if I had explained in detail I doubt it would have prepared you for the actual experience. Here where you are safe you still had a difficult time, imagine if it had happened in the middle of your village."

"I hate to admit it, but you have a point," said Kal, "though it doesn't make me feel any better about doing that."

"I'm sorry Kal, I wish it had worked with me and saved you from needing to do that. Is there any way that I can make it up to you?" Ikuno winced as the words left her mouth knowing that she had given him the perfect opportunity to bring up magic.

Kal looked down at his now limp penis then to the magic lantern that he could barely make out in Ikuno's library and finally to the sleeping girl, with a thoughtful expression he looked back at the oni, "let me think on that for a bit, and I might have something in mind."

Looking towards the cave entrance Ikuno sighed, "It seems it's about time for you to go home, if you don't leave soon you may not make it before dark." She sniffed the air coming from outside, "it may be too late already."

Kal nodded and quickly dressed then went over to help Ikuno with the buckles on her clothing. The oni scowled at him, "I'm capable of dressing myself farmer boy."

"I know, but it's a handy excuse for opportunities like this," giving her an impish smile and reaching under the flap covering her bottom and gave her a squeeze.

"Young men! Always one thing on their mind!" she laughed then shooed him away. "Off with you now for a moment, in need to wake the girl." Forming a magic circle in her hand she pointed it at the sleeping girl and with a few words specks of dust on the girl glowed softly before fading into nothing. When she didn't move Ikuno gave her a little shake.

The girl's eyes popped open and she quickly sat up in bed, "What time is it? I need to be 'ome! I'll get a beatin' if I don' 'ave supper ready!"

Ikuno placed her large hand on the girl's head, "Peace child, things have changed, and I will need to explain some things to you. Firstly, what is your name?"

"Perra, Milady. Me mum named me that."

Ikuno smiled softly at the young girl and sat down at the foot of the bed, "I will try to make this quick, as you and Kal have places to be before dark. I believe Kal can answer most of your questions if we don't have time here." Ikuno took a deep breath, "First off, you will not be returning to your brother… ever." Perra began to protest and Ikuno held up a hand to stop her, "Wait until I am finished then ask your questions," the young girl closed her mouth and slowly nodded.

"The knights you came with were concerned that your brother might kill you if you went back to him and felt that since I had saved your life that you belonged to me now." Again, Ikuno had to hold up a hand to forestall any arguments, there were tears in Perra's eyes. "My cave is no place for a young human girl to live so I'm sending you to live with my servant and his mother, their farm is near a village in the opposite direction from here from your village. As I said before, he is a good man who will make sure you are taken care of. Also, since his mother is recovering from a sickness your help will be very appreciated."

"Finally, the knights were very adamant," Perra gave her a look at the word, Ikuno thought for a moment, "very stern, that you never speak of what happened with Sir Michael. They were also very clear that if news of the incident got out that they may even go so far as to have you killed. I apologize for putting this on you at such an age, but I feel it's important you know what is at stake."

The oni drew the sniffling girl into a hug, "Do you have any questions before you go little one?"

"They's thinkin' my brother might kill me?" said the Perra with a quavering voice.

Ikuno nodded, "Do you remember what happened after I saved you from Sir Michael?"

"I ran back 'ome an' me brother yelled at me cuz if the knight died then he couldn' become a squire. He 'it me a couple times an' I bumped my 'ead. Woke up at the 'pothecary, good as new. Reck'n 'e took me there to get me patched up."

Ikuno shook her head sadly then repeated to Perra the story the knight had heard from the apothecary owner. "The knights felt that he would blame you for losing another chance to become a squire and for him being put in the stocks. They didn't feel it would be safe for you to return home," she said.

Tears rolled freely down Perra's cheeks as she heard about how she had nearly died and Ikuno's potion had saved her. Sadly agreeing with the knight's conclusion she asked, "So I'm ta go live wit' 'im?" looking in Kal's direction.

Ikuno stood, "Yes you are and to get home before dark you will need some help." She walked over to the bookcases in the library and picked up three small bottles off one of the shelves. Motioning for the two young humans to follow she made her way to the entrance of the cave. Once outside they could see that the sun would be setting in a short time. The onihe held the bottles up for Kal and Perra to see. "Strength, speed and stamina," she explained holding up each in turn, looking at Kal she said, "this should allow you to carry Perra on your back and allow you to get home in time. Unfortunately, that means it's time for goodbyes."

Kal walked over to Ikuno crooking his finger to come closer, she leaned down and he took the oni's face in his hands before kissing her tenderly. The oni dropped to one knee and drew the farmer in close. Breaking the kiss Kal looked into her eyes, "I'll be back as soon as I can," he said softly stroking her cheek.

She leaned into his hand, "Don't be too long."

Ikuno released Kal and they turned to Perra only to be stopped by the awed expression on her face.

"What?" asked Kal.

"You two looked like me mum an' da," she said looking between the two.

Kal felt his cheeks redden while Ikuno flushed dark purple in embarrassment, "I… we… err… ummm," she stammered. Kal laughed, this was the first time he had seen the oni so flustered and caught off guard, and all from Perra's innocent observation.

Ikuno glared at him for a moment but quickly broke into a smile, "Come now girl, get up on his back. He will be moving very fast so hold on tight." Kal knelt down so Perra could climb up and prepare for her high-speed piggyback ride. "Kal, be careful with your strength while the potion is in effect, you may hurt her if you hold her too tight." Shaking each of the bottles she pushed magical energy into each one making them glow. Kal didn't understand how but he could feel the magic moving into them.

"Ikuno?" he said getting her attention, "Will you teach me magic?"

The oni sighed and looked at him, "Magic is very difficult and takes many years to learn. I'm sorry but I'll have to say no, I understand if that means you won't come to see me again," she said looking sad.

Kal snorted, "Magic or no, I'll still be coming back here ,you needn't worry about that. Magic just seems so amazing I was hoping I might be able to learn it."

Ikuno smiled and kissed him on the forehead. Riding Kal's back, Perra was suddenly glad of how the oni's horns swept back over her hair instead of sticking straight out like the girl had seen in pictures of green ogres.

"That was the correct answer," said Ikuno, "I would be happy to teach you, I just wanted to make sure that wasn't the only reason you would come see me. Bear in mind what I said earlier was true, it will be difficult and take a long time. Now is not the time for such discussion however. You said you live around two hours away?" Kal was wearing a goofy grin from her agreeing to teach him but had enough sense to nod, Ikuno thought for a moment then aloud said, "Seven should do. Open your mouth Kal." She carefully put seven drops of each potion on his tongue and when he swallowed he felt his body flood with strength and energy. "Go, be safe," said Ikuno but to Kal, the words were drawn out and strangely deep. He nodded and broke into a swift jog towards home noticing immediately that he was covering far more ground than normal, Perra squeaked and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. Not feeling the slightest fatigue even at those speeds, Kal made sure Perra was secure then broke into a run.

Ikuno watched as the two sprinted off to the west towards Kal's farm. Sighing, she turned and went into her cave, uncomfortably aware that no one would be sharing her bed with her tonight like Kal had earlier that day. Shaking her head, she walked into the darkness.

* * *

Speed was the first to lose its effect and Kal slowed down just as they came upon one of the fields furthest from the house. Strength left next but Perra was fairly light, so he continued carrying her on his back. Finally, the stamina potion gave out and Kal had just begun breathing heavier as they approached his house.

Kal's house wasn't much to look at, a log cabin that his father and grandfather had built by hand with a roof made of wooden shingles that seemed to need repair every time it rained. The only distinguishing part was the metal tube that poked out of roof close to the center of the cabin. Inside, the tube led to a cast iron stove, a wedding gift from his grandfather that had cost a small fortune but did a much better job of keeping the cabin warm in winter than the stone fireplace. A wall with doors by the front and back of the cabin separated the bedrooms from the main room and the iron stove was set into this wall with the half of the back opening out into each bedroom for heating. Open cupboards by the fireplace signified the kitchen area and the rest was taken up by table and chairs for the living room/dining area. Behind the house was a chicken coop next to a shed where he kept all of his farm tools as well as a small barn where his two oxen stayed, a third stall in the barn was empty but he planned on filling that with a horse soon.

The sun had just disappeared behind the trees when Kal put Perra down and turned to face her. "One thing before we go inside, my mother is recovering from a sickness and is still somewhat may be best not to tell her that Ikuno is an oni."

"Oni?" Perra asked tilting her head to one side.

"I'll explain better later but she isn't an ogre like everyone thinks but something called an oni. Anyways, I don't know how my mother will react to her being a giant blue woman."

Perra thought about it for a second then nodded before asking, "Wha' about you kissin 'er?"

Kal blushed, "Maybe best not mention that too. Well, let's get you settled in."

Kal's mother was sitting in a chair in the living room knitting as they walked in. After introductions and informing his mother that she would be staying with them, which got a raised eyebrow from his mother when Perra wasn't looking, she fawned over the teenage girl before taking her into her room to find some new clothes.

Kal's mom came back out as the girl changed, she stood in front of the young farmer with her hands on her hips, "Explain, and quickly, she won't take long to change."

Kal thought for a moment, "Short answer. Brother was beating her, knights took her from the brother. The lady who gave us the money for your cure also saved the girl at one point. Knights gave the girl to the lady who called on me as her servant to take care of her." He shrugged, "And here we are."

His mother's eyes widened, "Servant?"

"She saved your life, mother, just a 'thank you' felt… inadequate. On days I can make it over there I plan to put myself at her disposal for the day." His voice was firm with resolve under her gaze.

"Is this what she demanded as payment for the money?"

"No mother, she demanded nothing. This was my idea and I intend to keep my word to her. Admittedly I wasn't expecting something like Perra coming to live with us as part of my duties."

Kal's mother visibly relaxed, "As long as it was your choice and you will still be here working the farm most times I suppose it will be okay," Looking towards the door to her room she added, "the extra hands will be a help as well on the days you are gone. First things first, I'm going to have to break her of the peasant speak," she said twisting her mouth like she'd just bitten into something sour.

Perra walked out of his mother's room, she had changed into one of his mother's old farm dresses but twirled about showing it off like it was a gown fit for a castle ball. It made Kal realize just how close to rags her old clothes had been. His mother again fawned over the young girl before dragging her over to the kitchen and began drilling the girl about what kind of cooking skills she had.

Kal walked into his room and looked at his bed, thinking back to that afternoon and how nice it had been to wake up with Ikuno. Sighing, he lit a candle and set it on his nightstand ,then reached into the bottom half and retrieved one of the only three books he had ever read, figuring he should study up if he was going to be learning magic in the future. After only a few minutes though he set the book down, unable to concentrate. Laying back on the bed he listened to the sounds of Perra and his mother busying themselves in the kitchen while thoughts of his time with the blue-skinned, golden-horned, white-haired oni lulled him to sleep.

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Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	5. Chapter 5

Almost six months had passed since Perra had come to live with Kal and his mother. True to his word, Kal visited Ikuno's cave as often as possible with Perra tagging along whenever she could get her chores caught up, and true to her word Ikuno began teaching Kal the basics of magic.

Kal could tell that something was bothering Ikuno in the way she acted these last few weeks and more often than not he would end up going home immediately after these practice sessions with Ikuno getting upset for some reason he didn't understand, then stomping off to her cave in a huff. Near as he could tell, the better he did the more annoyed she became with him, and for the life of him Kal couldn't figure out why. Today as he approached the oni's cave he intended to find out.

Kal adjusted the piece of leather strapped to his forearm. Scrawled across the top were circular runes that looked only vaguely similar to the ones tattooed on the arm of the knight, Sir Balthus. It had been about two months of constant study, interrupted by much more pleasurable distractions with Ikuno, before the oni had let him try his hand at some actual magic. In the beginning, Ikuno had tried to teach him how to summon the magic circles like she did, as it was the type of casting she was most familiar, but with little success. Ikuno's charged crystals provided enough power, but he just couldn't keep the image of the circle with its various runes and sigils as sharp in his mind as it needed to be. After a second mishap that required her to heal a couple of his broken fingers, they decided to move on and come back once he had studied for another year or so.

Next, he tried his hand at drawing the runes in the air. This proved to be much easier for Kal as the runes were far less complex, he even managed to create a ball of flame that danced about in his hand as well as heal up some small scrapes and cuts he had gotten while working on the farm the previous day. But each success seemed to only make Ikuno grow colder towards him and unfortunately, only runes in the most basic spells were simple enough for him to both draw accurately and mentally hold the image before he ran into the same problem as with the magic circles. Luckily, he and Ikuno realized this before any more fingers were broken.

Two visits ago he had asked about the runes on the arm of Sir Balthus.

"Do you know what a runesmith is Kal?" Ikuno asked joining him in the library as he read by the light of the magic lantern. The book was for novice mages since he hadn't built up the knowledge or vocabulary to tackle anything more difficult yet. Despite his attempts to brush up on his reading skills, the magical tomes had thrown a large number of new words and concepts at him and at times it felt like he was learning to read all over again.

"Not really, it hasn't been in any of the books you've had me read. It sounds like some sort of blacksmith," he replied.

"The huge majority of them are," Ikuno pulled over a nearby chair and sat down. Since he was spending so much time studying, Kal had crafted a second chair so they could both sit and talk in the library comfortably. "Dwarven and elven runesmiths go out and find extremely rare and powerfully magical components that they take and forge into weapons or tools to imbue them with strong magical powers."

"Are there no human runesmiths?" he asked.

Ikuno shook her head, "Not that I know of. I've heard that some extremely powerful runed weapons take decades to make, occasionally taking the life of the crafter in the process. To my understanding, humans do not live long enough to develop the expertise or have the magical affinity to forge a runed item before they become too frail with age."

Kal was thoughtful, "That sounds amazing, and a bit scary, but I'm no blacksmith. I can't even fix my own tools when they break."

She gave him a half smile before continuing, "There is another much rarer type of runesmith, one that does much the same thing, but instead of crafting a weapon they go out and find the purest and most powerful components to create magical inks then 'forge' the runes into their own skin," she explained.

Kal's face lit up with understanding, "That's what's on Balthus's arm! He's a runesmith!" Kal thought for a moment before his elation drained away, "Wait, that doesn't make any sense…"

Ikuno smiled, "You are correct, before they left I asked him about his arm. He said that it was a foolish mistake from when he was younger thinking a magical shield he could summon at any time would be useful if he became a knight. He paid a small fortune for the runes but the crystal they gave him was the same one I shattered, that pathetic crystal made those runic tattoos almost useless. He told me it took days to charge the crystal and as you saw the shield only lasted a few seconds at best. Unable to prove the worth of his magical arm he spent a few more years as a squire than necessary. However, my point is that it was a runesmith that put the marks on his arm, not Balthus himself."

Standing up Ikuno looked through the books before taking one off the shelf and placing it by the one Kal was reading. "This book has most of what I know about runesmithing, look through it and tell me what you think. Before you jump into this you should know that there is a tradeoff going this route."

Kal closed the book he had been reading and slid the new one in its place. Looking up at the oni, "What kind of tradeoff?" he asked.

"Energy," she formed a small magic circle in her hand and held it there, "This type of magic takes the least amount of energy. Since I'm doing all the work in my head, maintaining its form it takes very little to initiate the spell, only a little more than what it takes to hold it like this." Dispelling the circle, she used a claw to draw a rune in the air then held the glowing sigil in her hand like before; Kal recognized it as a simple healing spell. "Casting like this takes a bit more effort to get going as I have to empower the rune as I draw it to achieve the same effect." Ikuno let the rune fade and looked at Kal. "It takes far more magical power to activate an inked rune. First, the ink must be charged with magic then the rune must be activated. Because of all this energy needed to cast, even a rune drawn in the purest ink will eventually burn. Once activated, the spell doesn't take much more to maintain than the other ways.

Kal was quiet as he took in everything she had told him, understanding now why she had started him out on what seemed to be the most difficult means of spellcasting. "Why do it then? What is the point if it takes so much more effort and is such a waste of energy?"

"Being a runesmith does have its advantages," she put her hands together in front of her. "Let's say my hands are bound together, as I am now the only thing I can do is this," the magical shield she had used in the fight against Galen appeared above her forearm before quickly fading. "If I were a runesmith I could heal myself, change shape, burn away the bindings, change part of my body into slime perhaps, even activate strength or speed runes to escape. All just by pushing magic into the right runes and without the use of my hands."

"Okay, now the opposite question why don't all magic users have runes on them if they are so handy?" he asked.

Ikuno smiled, "Think back to the battle with the knight," her magical shield formed above her arm again, "look familiar?"

Kal sat there slack-jawed staring at the magic circle above Ikuno's arm, he couldn't believe he had failed to notice that Ikuno's and Balthus's shields were nearly identical. He collected himself and looked closely at Ikuno's arm, "But you don't have any runes on you…"

Ikuno released the spell and winced, "That's because they're a bit… deeper," she seemed reluctant to say more but that only roused Kal's curiosity.

"Deeper?"

She rubbed her forearm with her other hand, "I didn't want them to be visible, so I had them etch the runes into my… bones."

"Owwwch!" though it didn't actually hurt him, the very thought was making his arm tingle. Kal found himself rubbing his own arm in a similar manner as Ikuno.

"That's a bit of an understatement," she shook her head a bit to rid herself of the memory, "Read up on what you can in the book, I'll make us something to eat while you study," she said and walked out of the library.

He spent the rest of the day reading and talking with Ikuno, then for the first time in weeks they spent the time before he went home in bed.

On his next visit, after their normal beginning to one of one of his visits, Ikuno had crawled out of bed and given him a piece of leather with ties to go around his arm and runes scrawled into the top along with one of her charged crystals.

"I had some spell components I combined to make a decent quality ink. Let's go outside and see how well you do with this," she said smiling, "don't be discouraged though, it may take some time to get it to work."

Dressed and out in the clearing in front of the cave Kal strapped the piece of leather to his forearm. Holding the crystal in his other hand he took a couple deep breaths in preparation. He closed his eyes in concentration then pulled magical energy from the crystal before pushing it into the runes on the leather. At first, it felt like the magic crashed into a wall stopping and rebounding back on him like a wave. He gritted his teeth and kept pushing despite the resulting headache. Energy flowed slowly towards the ink, like pushing a log through a wall of clay. As the barrier gave way and the magic touched the ink the floodgates were thrown open allowing energy to rush in, charging the runes then rebounding yet again as he failed to activate the shield quickly enough. As the magical energy slammed back into him he cried out, falling to his knees and holding his head. The runes on the strip of leather flickered out leaving tendrils of steam floating up from the ink.

Ikuno rushed to his side, but he waved her off. Standing up, he gave her a weak smile, "Not giving up that easily."

Steeling himself again he pulled energy from the crystal, being more careful this time he pushed against the barrier slowly, easing through instead of smashing into it like earlier. Even with his extra caution, when he breached the other side of the barrier the magic once again rushed in beyond his control and rebounded back on him. This time he did manage to activate the shield, so the backlash wasn't nearly as severe. Still, the runes lit up and a poorly formed shield had appeared before quickly flickering and dying. Kal took heart that he was making progress.

Ikuno's worried voice came from by the cave, "Kal?"

"I'm fine." He looked at the dimly lit crystal in his hand, figuring it to be drained about halfway. "I think I've got a few tries left in me before the crystal is empty."

Closing his eyes again he pulled magical energy from the crystal and mentally approached the barrier. Probing it gently, it really did seem to react like clay. Thinking back to the potter in town he remembered the way clay was so firm you could punch it and only leave a dent, though thinner things like a string made of twisted horse hairs could pass through easily. Kal focused the energy down into a fine point and sent it forward into the wall, penetrating easily it connected with the magical ink on the other side. He paused for a moment as he noticed a change in the runes, with the tendril of energy touching them they seemed to be vibrating, almost as if buzzing with anticipation. Kal carefully pushed more magic from the crystal into the line connecting to the ink, widening it in the process. The barrier gave way easily allowing the hole to expand as more power flowed through and into the runes. Once charged, Kal activated the runes and a glowing magic circle appeared above his arm.

Whooping with joy he punched his fist into the air in triumph, and the shield winked out as he lost his concentration. "Oops," he chuckled. Focusing, he went through the process again: pierce, widen, charge, activate. This time the shield blazed to life in less than a second. After jumping around with happiness for a minute, he practiced pulling up the shield as fast as possible, quickly getting to the point where he could bring his arm up and bash an imaginary opponent with the shield appearing only a moment before 'impact'.

Smiling he turned to Ikuno.

He wasn't sure what he expected but his heart sank when he saw her stony visage.

"What's wrong Ikuno?" asked Kal.

Ignoring his question, she held out her hand, "Give me the crystal."

"Did I do someth…"

"JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN CRYSTAL!" she roared.

He held out the drained crystal and she snatched it from his hand, accidentally catching him with one of her claws. Kal jerked his hand away but she quickly grabbed his arm and summoned a magic circle in her hand to heal the scratch. His confusion mounted when he saw tears running down her face.

Without looking at him Ikuno stood and walked back to her cave, "You need to go home now, Kal."

"Would you please at least tell m…"

"LEAVE," she growled.

Hanging his head in defeat, Kal dejectedly started making his way westward towards his farm.

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Kal took a deep breath as he stepped out into the clearing in front of the cave knowing that she already been alerted to his presence. He had noticed a few weeks ago that he was now able to tell when he passed through the wards that warned Ikuno of visitors or intruders. He was starting to wonder which of those categories he fell into.

As he approached the cave, Ikuno was still far enough from the entrance to be hidden in shadow, though he could still see her glowing red eyes.

"Go home Kal," came a low growl from inside the cave, "Go home and don't come back here. Wait for Perra to come of age, marry her, have a bunch of children and be happy on your farm."

Her words were like an arrow to the chest and as she spoke the weight of them threatened to drive him to his knees. He felt a tightness in his chest as pain and sadness washed over him, but then he remembered his sole reason for coming today. There was a spark of anger from her rejection and he built that up into a near rage and used it to shove the hurt aside.

"No," he snarled back at the oni.

He saw the eyes narrow in the darkness, "I asked you before if you have a death wish, has that changed?"

Kal steadied himself and reigned in his roiling emotions, glaring at her he said, "I'm not leaving until you tell me what I have done to make you so mad at me."

Ikuno stepped out into the light her expression as cold as steel, "As you wish," she held her hand out and a magic circle formed, a ball of energy streaked towards Kal. From his practice the day before it was on pure reflex that the runes on the leather vambrace lit up and the shield formed in time for him to intercept the attack.

Popping his head up over the magic circle he yelled, "What the hell was that for Ikuno?"

The oni's expression never changed as she allowed the attack spell to dissipate and lowered her arm, "Where is your crystal Kal?" she asked.

Annoyed he snapped back, "What does… that… have…" realization dawned on the boy, he had given the crystal back yesterday, and even if he hadn't it had been completely drained during his practice. He had no power source for the shield, yet there it was in front of him. His eyes full of questions, he looked at Ikuno, "How…?" he was so stunned didn't even know what to ask.

"Exactly," she said, staring at Kal's magic shield. Her expression softened a tiny bit, "I don't have answers for you Kal and that frustrates me. Humans aren't magical by nature and magic for them is like a muscle that needs to be exercised to become strong, but it takes a very long time. It's why all the powerful human wizards are old, it takes that long to build up their ability to the point they can cast more powerful spells." Looking him in the eyes she continued, "What you are doing right now should have taken years just to form the shield and at least a decade before you could hold it as long as you have now, but here you stand putting almost no effort into it."

Ikuno looked down at the ground, "You want to know why I'm so angry? It's because I'm confused." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm centuries upon centuries old, Kal. This was my home before yours or Perra's villages even existed. Before I came here I had seen amazing things, mountains higher than the clouds, crossed oceans where it would be weeks of seeing nothing but water, cities that would take a human days to walk across, palaces that you could fit twenty or more of your little villages in and met countless people along the way. I've befriended dragons, wizards, and kings as well as made a few of those into enemies which is why I chose to stay in my little cave for a time."

"After all this time and everything I've seen," Ikuno stalked forward, her eyes locked on his and getting louder with each step, "do you have any idea how frustrating, how confusing and how angry it makes me, being completely confounded by a simple farmer boy!" she yelled, her face mere inches from his.

Kal stood there his eyes locked on hers, returning her stony glare, "You're right," he growled back at her, "I'm just a simple farmer and I don't understand what is going on here. But here's what I do understand," the shield above his arm vanished as he began wrestling with the ties holding the strip of leather to his arm, all while still glaring at Ikuno. "This whole blasted thing started when I began learning magic. And if my choices are learning magic and losing you," in annoyance, he ripped the leather the rest of the way off his arm and threw it off to one side, "then magic can go to hell."

Ikuno stood up, confusion was written on her face. "But… why?"

"Because I love you, dammit!" Kal slapped a hand over his mouth and his eyes went wide with surprise at his own declaration.

Ikuno looked like she had been struck by lightning, she sank to her knees wide-eyed with shock.

There was a minute of uneasy silence as they both absorbed his words.

Ikuno's arms came up, her expression blank. Kal tensed as she put her hands on either side of his face. She pulled him in and kissed him, then kissed him again, and again, and again each one more passionate than the last. She kissed his nose, his eyelids, his forehead, his cheeks, his chin then back to his lips where her tongue slipped into Kal's mouth and dueled with his for a few long moments. When they separated they were both looking flushed and breathing heavily.

Tugging at Kal's pants she whispered breathlessly, "I need you… now."

Kal reached down to help and soon his trousers fell, revealing that he had grown to her size but was not quite hard yet. Ikuno put one hand behind his back and laid him down on the grass while the other reached down and stroked him to full hardness. She kissed him hard, her tongue again slipping into his mouth as she pushed aside the flap covering her sex and guided him to her entrance. She let out a sob as she slid down his length taking him to the all the way to the root in one go.

Kal heard the sob and opened his eyes to see tears running down her face, he broke the kiss pushing her up with a worried look, "Ikuno what's wrong?"

Ikuno shook her head smiling, "Shut up you idiot, they're because I'm happy," she said wiping a tear from her cheek. She pushed his arms aside and leaned down so they were nose to nose, "Stop worrying about it and make love to me," she said before kissing him again. She lifted herself up then raised her head and gasped as she slid back down to the hilt, the head just barely brushing her cervix.

She slid up and down on his hard cock slowly increasing the pace until she found a comfortable rhythm, savoring the feeling of being stretched and filled by her lover. Sitting up without missing a stroke she undid the buckles to her top and bottom casting them aside then took Kal's hands and placed them on her breasts. He began teasing and twisting her nipples making her moan in appreciation.

After a few minutes, she could tell they were both getting close. Kal had started to thrust up into her as she came down on him and his eyes were closed in concentration. Ikuno slowed down taking longer strokes but gripping him tighter with her insides, Kal's eyes came open in curiosity. She leaned over and kissed him.

"I want to do something special with you, Kal, something I have only done with a handful of others in my life," she said.

Kal grunted as she slowly slid up his shaft, "What's that?" he said then moaned as she came back down. This slow pace after getting so close was driving him nuts.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "I want you to claim me. I want you to fuck me hard and fast and fill me all three ways. Show me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm your woman."

Blood surged to Kal's cock at the thought, making him throb inside her, "I'd love to do that for you, but I don't think I can manage three in a row."

Ikuno sat up again, magic circles forming in each hand, "I'll take care of that," she reached behind her and ran her fingers over his balls, a warm tingling sensation ran through them and up into the base of his cock. She then put the other circle on his chest and Kal felt strength rush through his body. He thrust up into Ikuno and easily lifted her off the ground, making the oni groan in pleasure.

Kal placed his hands on her hips and held her in place, still a bit surprised that he could keep her from moving, "Last chance to back out, are you sure?"

She tried to lift up but stayed firmly impaled on his cock, "Yessss, I want it," she moaned grinding her pussy into his groin.

He lifted her off his prick and flipped her onto her back, Kal winced at the loud thump as she hit the ground harder than he intended. Ikuno hardly seemed to notice as she was already spreading her legs while he changed position, taking a leg in each hand he lined up with her sex and slammed himself into the moist heat of her pussy. He thrust into her fast and hard, taking just a moment to move Ikuno's hands behind her knees to hold her legs. That left his hands free to tease her breasts, pinching and playing with her nipples as he pounded into her. Leaning over he took a nipple into his mouth and lightly bit down making her gasp. Feeling he was getting close Kal reached up behind Ikuno's neck and pulled her towards him. Ikuno's eyes were glazed over with pleasure, he turned her head to the side and growled in her ear.

"Cum with me."

Grabbing her by the hair he tilted her head back and ran his tongue from her collarbone to her jaw as his orgasm begin to wash over him. Burying himself deep as he could in the oni, he bit down and sucked hard on the sensitive skin of Ikuno's neck as his cock erupted inside her.

Ikuno's body convulsed as she came, a high-pitched wail escaping her mouth as her back arched and her entire body tensed up. Freed from her nerveless hands her legs came together nearly crushing Kal, even with his magical strength. As his orgasm abated, Kal released her neck leaving a dark purple mark behind. Moments later Ikuno collapsed in a panting heap.

As he changed positions Kal wondered for a moment if this was really okay with her but pushed it aside quickly; he could always stop if she needed him to. Standing and walking to her head he reached down and grabbed her by her horns, she weakly got on her hands and knees as he pulled her into position. Her eyes fluttering open she saw Kal's prick bobbing in front of her face, with a flicker of a smile she opened her mouth. Kal didn't thrust full force into her mouth but he wasn't gentle either, she wanted to feel claimed and he intended to give her what she wanted.

He could feel his balls swell with seed again as Ikuno's magic went to work keeping him hard and making him ready for the next round. Ikuno moaned happily around his cock, her tongue getting more active as she recovered. Soon enough he was sliding in and out of her mouth at a good pace and Ikuno had reached between her legs and was playing with her clit. The spell she cast on his balls seemed to keep him nice and sensitive since it wasn't long before he started to feel the tingle down below that told him he was close. Ikuno's hips had started to jerk as her fingers brought her closer to her release as well.

"Cum with me again, woman." Kal could hardly believe he had spoken to her like that but it seemed to be just what she wanted as she leaned in and swallowed, the head of his dick slipping into her throat. The sensation and surprise sent him over the edge, he held her tight to his groin as he spent himself straight into her belly, he felt her throat working around him as her body tensed up and she joined him with her own climax. While he was still cumming Ikuno pushed a little and Kal thought she needed him to pull out, but as he withdrew she stopped him with just the head in her mouth, catching his last few spurts on her tongue seemed to trigger another smaller climax in the oni.

Ikuno's revitalizing spell was hard at work before he even pulled free of her mouth, while it got him ready for the next round it didn't seem to keep him from getting a bit sore. Walking behind the blue oni he saw she had been getting herself ready by taking a mixture of their combined fluids from her sex and coating her rear. Kal got the sense that he shouldn't waste any time, there was a nagging feeling that Ikuno's spells would only be active a bit longer, however, neither one of them usually lasted long when he took her backside.

Pushing her hips down to his level he stepped up and slipped into her sex, getting fully lubed with her juices, before pulling out and lining up with her backdoor. Slipping the head inside he now knew that he didn't need to be nearly as cautious as the first time, she helped by backing into him until he was once again surrounded by the heat of her body.

"You've taken my cunt," Kal had never heard her use that word before, "you've taken my mouth, now take my ass. Make me yours Kal."

Kal just grunted in reply. Grabbing ahold of her hips he eased himself in and out a few times to make sure she was nice and slick before speeding up. Moving his hands to her waist he pulled her back into him each time he thrust forward, their bodies coming together with loud slaps. Ikuno let out little moans every time he pushed into her, raising her head up and arching her back in pleasure as he roughly plowed into her rear again and again. For the third time that day Kal felt himself getting closer to cumming. Seeing her hair whipping about in front of him, Kal reached out and grabbed a handful, twisting it around his wrist. He pulled her head back towards him while maintaining the furious pace of pounding the oni's ass. Thinking about the mark he had already left on her neck he entertained the thought of putting a matching one on the back just to the side of her spine. He teased her by gently scraping his teeth across her skin as slammed into her backside harder and faster.

Through gritted teeth, he heard Ikuno growl, "Dooo iiiiit."

As the first volley of spunk shot into the oni's ass he bit down sucking hard on her tender skin. Ikuno's climax hit her like an avalanche, her ass tightened up but with his extra strength, he was able to keep fucking her all the way through her orgasm. Each time he bottomed out it felt like another bigger orgasm hit her before the last one could subside. Her screams of pleasure turned into a roar then the roar took on the strange echo that happened when she cast a spell. Leaving a second purple mark on her neck Kal buried his cock inside her rear and stayed there as he finished emptying himself in her bottom. Her roar was getting almost deafening when she went quiet and slumped like a puppet with its strings cut. Pulling free of Kal she collapsed into the grass.

Kal hurriedly knelt beside her, his strength allowing him to cradle her in his arms.

"Ikuno! Ikuno!?" Are you okay!" he called, her eyelids fluttered open as he gently shook her, "talk to me Ikuno, are you okay!?

"Ffffuck you Kal."

"Huh?"

"I ssaid, ffffuck you," her head lolled as she tried to focus on him. "How dare youuu ask me if I'm okay. I'm not okay, I'm ffffuckin' amazing!" she said the last with a flourish that almost dumped her out of his lap.

Kal relaxed a bit since she didn't seem to be in any danger. But still…

"Why are you acting like this Ikuno?"

"Too much magic," she tapped her temple, "does funny shit to yer head. Better 'n humans though they get too much an dey go POP!" her eyes widened comically each time she said the word, "I'm an ooold spirit though I don' go POP! like a human. Hehehe POP! POP!"

"Okay, but how can I help you."

She touched one of her horns, "Horns'zz like crystals, touch horn use magic. Get back to normal, though dis is fun. Yewr cute," she said snuggling into his chest.

"Can't you just use some magic to get rid of it?"

She lifted her head up but took a second to focus on him, "You wan' me to do the fhhhhht," she flopped her hand around in the air in front of her, "like this?"

"You're right, that was a horrible idea."

"Mmmm hmmmm," she hummed and snuggled back into his chest.

Kal thought for a moment, he didn't have a lot of options.

"What about the crystals?"

"Not big enuff,"

"What if you charge all of them?"

"Still nope. Need ta burn lotsa energy. Don' worry I'll be good in a couple days. Extra will all jus float offa me."

Kal spied the leather vambrace lying nearby. He set Ikuno down, which got a disappointed 'awwww' from the oni, and went to get it. The straps were stretched from where he ripped it off earlier, but all the runes appeared to still be intact. Tying it back on his arm he went back to Ikuno, He picked her up and carried her to the middle of the clearing, but his strength ran out just he got there and they both went tumbling into the grass. Picking himself up and brushing off the debris he thought in retrospect it might have been a good idea to put his clothes back on. Ikuno just sat up and laughed.

Standing next to Ikuno he held his arm up above his head so the shield would appear parallel to the ground, then reached out to touch one of Ikuno's horns, but she ducked away.

Trying her best to make a serious face she said, "Don' do too much, you'll go POP! I like you, don' want ya ta go POP!"

"I won't, I promise"

Thinking that just touching might not be the best idea with her in this state he reached out and grabbed one of Ikuno's horns, the oni made a scandalized 'oooOOooooo' but Kal ignored her. Raising his arm again he summoned the shield, drawing power from Ikuno he pushed it into the runes hoping to make the shield larger, to his surprise the magic circle grew. He was about to try to go even larger when…

"Mmmmm that looks yummy," Kal's dick was suddenly enveloped by Ikuno's warm wet mouth. The magic shield flickered and died as he lost his concentration. Kal looked down in annoyance to see the oni contentedly sucking on his soft prick, though it wasn't going to stay soft for long.

"Dammit, Ikuno I'm trying to help you," he said attempting to pull away, but Ikuno shook her head and growled at him letting her pointed teeth rest lightly against the base of his shaft. Kal quickly stopped trying to pull out of her mouth. When he relented she made a noise that sounded suspiciously like 'mine' and went back to contentedly sucking on his prick.

Kal raised his arm again, trying to block out the pleasant sensations from his groin.

Kal quickly reached the biggest size from before then pushed it larger twice more before…

"Dammit Ikuno! Stop that!" Ikuno looked up at him with a face of pure puppy-eyed innocence. That is, if it hadn't been for his oni-sized cock deep in her mouth and her tongue lazily swirling around the head while one of her hands idly played with the folds of her sex.

Kal sighed again in frustration, he considered just trying to fuck her mouth and get off to see if she would let him concentrate but had a strange feeling she was doing this as some kind of challenge. Raising his arm, he started again. He made it to the first biggest then the second with relative ease, he did seem to be drawing a good amount of power but with his inexperience, it was hard to tell. He pushed the shield further; gentle fingers came up and tickled his balls. He pushed the shield further; she began bobbing her head up and down his length. He pushed the shield further; she took him all the way to the root swallowing then massaging his cock with her throat.

"Fuuuuck!" Kal yelled. The shield covered most of the clearing and parts of it faded in and out but never collapsed completely. He felt like he was pulling as much as he safely could from Ikuno and was just wondering how long he would need to hold it until she was back to normal. Despite his recent feats of concentration, he knew full well that if he came down her throat that would be the end, he was doing his best to maintain the runes, but the ink had all burnt off a while ago. He wouldn't get another chance.

His cock suddenly felt cold as Ikuno pulled her mouth off.

"Kal, you can let go now," she said.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Kal released the shield and looked down at Ikuno. He wanted to bend down and hug her, but he also had a raging erection and was on the verge of cumming. Ikuno made things easy by opening her mouth as an invitation, with a whimper of relief he put his cock in her mouth and in just a handful of thrusts deposited his fourth load of the day on her tongue.

Panting, Kal collapsed onto the grass, "That. Was. Torture." he said.

Ikuno swallowed her treat then crawling over to Kal laid her head on his chest. Kal looked at the charred ruins of the leather vambrace.

"Guess I didn't do a very good job of choosing you over magic," he said sadly, unstrapping it from his arm and sending the piece of leather flying towards the tree line.

"Admittedly, getting drunk off of magic overload wasn't how I had planned on that to end, I was thinking more hugging, kissing and candlelight. I did have one thing planned though." Ikuno reached over and renewed her strength spell on Kal then laid down in the grass smiling at him. "Carry me to my bedchambers, servant."

Kal laughed as magical strength surged through his muscles once again, easily picking up the much larger woman he walked towards the cave.

"So, you aren't mad at me for using magic?" he asked.

Ikuno laid her head on his shoulder, "Nope, not my problem anymore."

Kal looked at her, confused, "Why is that?"

She tapped the purple spot on the side of her neck, "Because you claimed me, I belong to you now."

Kal stopped dead in his tracks.

"Um….What?"

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Umm… What?"

Ikuno smiled but didn't lift her head off his shoulder, "I'll explain later, take me to bed."

Kal started walking again, "Sounds like there's going to be a lot of that, like how you ended up overloaded with magic."

Kal walked into the mouth of the cave, Ikuno snapped her fingers and a ball of light formed before them, leading the way into the darkness.

Ikuno was thoughtful, "I have an idea…"

"KAL! IKUNO! Are you alright!" came Perra's voice. They could tell from her footfalls that she was running across the clearing towards them.

Kal froze and Ikuno groaned in mild annoyance. "Better put me down," she said, "I'll go get our clothes, it won't be as big of a deal since we're both women."

"Nah, I have a better idea," he half turned towards the cave entrance and called out, "We're fine Perra!" they could hear the footsteps slow, "Could you collect our clothes and bring them inside in a couple minutes!" Kal smiled at Ikuno, "Now I can carry you to bed like you wanted."

There was a pause before the girl answered, "Are you guys naked?!" Perra yelled towards the cave.

"Yes! Some magic stuff happened! Give us a minute to cover up, then bring our clothes in!"

Ikuno suppressed a chuckle as her sharp ears picked up the young girl saying, "I bet it was 'magical'."

Kal carried Ikuno into the cavern she called home and walked over to the bed. He was at a loss as to how to pull the furs back and lay her down with his arms full when Ikuno reached out and pulled them back for him. He laid the Ikuno on the bed then pulled the covers up over her naked form. As he walked around the bed Ikuno piled up some of the furs she used for pillows into a wedge that Kal could recline against. Kal crawled under the fur blankets and leaned back, once he was comfortable she scooted under his arm and placed her head on his chest closing her eyes contentedly.

Kal idly ran his fingers through her white hair, "Perra's going to be here in a minute," he said.

"Mmm hmm."

"She's going to have questions when she sees us like this."

"That's fine."

"What are we going to tell her?"

"If she asks, we'll tell her the truth."

Kal was a bit nervous, "Wonder how she'll react?"

"Looks like we're about to find out, here she comes."

The path to the cave entrance began to light up soon followed by Perra holding a brightly glowing stone in one hand with Kal and Ikuno's clothes in the other. Not long ago Kal and Perra had arrived while Ikuno was out hunting and were stuck outside waiting for her to guide them inside. Soon after that, she made them both a glowing stone that lit up with a word, to navigate the darkness. Though it was meant to make things easier for the two human visitors, Ikuno quickly appreciated not having to escort them each time they came or went from the cave.

Walking into the cavern Perra looked around and stopped dead as her eyes landed on Kal and Ikuno.

"Well this is different," she said. Kal blushed sheepishly while Ikuno raised an arm and waved hello before draping it across Kal. Perra walked over to the stone chair and deposited their clothes.

Kal gave her a questioning look, "Perra I can't get dressed when my clothes are over there."

Perra smiled, "No worries, I won't be stayin' long. You look like you're wantin' some, alone time an' I don' feel like spendin' the next few hours pickin' berries or huntin' herbs like ya usually have me. Though I gotta say Ikuno, I've never seen you so lovey-dovey with him before."

Ikuno gave Kal a little squeeze with the arm laying over him, "That's because I'm his woman now."

Perra's eyes widened, "His woman? Does this mean you two are married or somethin'?"

"Yes?" the look on Kal's face told Perra he really wasn't sure.

"No."

Kal looked down at Ikuno, "No?"

Ikuno sighed and sat up tucking the blankets under her arms to keep herself covered. Kal meanwhile scrambled to prevent her from accidentally exposing his naked groin to Perra. Ikuno looked over at Kal, "Much as I would have liked to say 'yes', I can't. With the path you have chosen, it wouldn't be fair to you," looking at Perra she continued "In human marriage terms it's as though he put a ring on my finger saying I'm his, but I didn't put one on him."

Kal was a little hurt that she didn't want him to belong to her in the same way she claimed to belong to him, "I don't understand, why wouldn't it be fair to me?" he asked.

Ikuno waited patiently as Perra scampered off to the library and came back with a chair, allowing the girl to settle in before continuing.

"Let's start with ink," Kal and Perra both gave her a confused look, wondering how ink was related, "since you are wanting to become a runesmith mage you will be needing quite a bit. Back in ancient times if you wanted ink powerful enough for a runic tattoo you would need to find the largest, oldest giant squid or octopus you possibly could and find some way to extract the ink, usually by killing them. Understand?"

Kal and Perra both nodded then Kal asked, "Will I have to do that? Go kill a giant squid?"

Ikuno shook her head, "No, you have the option of a far easier and more pleasurable method."

"Okay, now I'm really confused."

"Monster girls."

"What?!" Said Kal and Perra in unison.

Ikuno had to choke back a laugh at their expressions.

"Monster girls were born of magic and all of them are highly magical creatures, for instance, golem or zombie girls wouldn't even exist without strong magics. In the case of collecting ink, instead of going hunting you could find a squid girl. Once found, you could extract it from her which would be unpleasant, make you a horrible person and only produce a small amount of low-grade ink. Your other option would be to barter with her, as I told you many monster girls are desperate to get pregnant so taking her for a tumble would get you some high-quality ink, comparable to killing a giant squid."

Kal looked thoughtful then smiled, "that certainly does sound more pleasurable than going out and killing stuff."

Perra laughed and smacked Kal in the arm "You letch!"

After a quick laugh at Kal's expense, Ikuno continued, "You do have a third option though. You can spend some time and build a relationship with the girl. If she were to offer herself to you, as I have, and you claim her, as you just did me, something special happens. Being with you amplifies their magic for a time, if she gives you some of her ink during that period it will be far superior to if you just bartered. But here's the catch, you must take her because you want her and care about her not just because you want high-quality ink. The other caveat is that they have to offer themselves to you understanding that you are not becoming their husband and have no claim on you."

"You said it amplifies their magic, is that what happened to you outside?" asked Kal.

Ikuno glanced at Perra and blushed dark purple, "Yeah, kind of..."

"Kind of?"

Ikuno cleared her throat still blushing, "there were a couple of things that happened. Firstly, I'm a spirit of nature and I draw in energy from around me all the time, when I became yours that was amplified and I was suddenly taking in a lot more than normal. Then there's the other thing…"

"What 'other thing'?" he asked.

Ikuno's eyes flicked to Perra, "I'm not sure I should explain this in front of her."

Perra pouted, "Me birthday is only a few months away and I'll be of age so don' let me stop you. I've heard this far I may as well hear the rest."

Kal looked at Ikuno and shrugged.

Ikuno sighed, "As you wish, the reason things went crossways outside is because there is a kind of magic in sex, the better the sex the more energy. We were making a LOT of energy that I was absorbing a LOT faster than usual. I told you my horns act like crystals and store magic, but they were full even before you got here, so I had nowhere to put the extra. To make matters worse," she glanced at Perra again then back to Kal, "you gave me a LOT of energy too." Perra smirked but kept quiet so Ikuno could continue, "I had to do something with all of the excess, so things got a little… loud."

Perra's eyes went wide, "Bloody hell! That was you?!" Ikuno blushed deep purple and nodded.

"I thought there was a dragon or some nasty monster nearby! It was so loud I had to stop and cover my ears. When the noise died I ran here as quickly as I could."

Kal had a questioning look on his face, "You ran all the way here?" Perra nodded, "And it was so loud you had to cover your ears?" she nodded again. Kal did some quick calculations his eyes getting bigger as he realized how far away Perra had been when she heard Ikuno's roar. He looked at Ikuno and, from the shocked look on her face, saw she had come to the same conclusion.

Ikuno quickly recovered and nudged Kal with her elbow, "Guess I wanted to let everyone know I was yours now."

"I think you might have succeeded," he said shaking his head, then looked back at Perra, "why were you coming here anyways, I thought you and mother were going to be busy?"

"Mom said she needed to go visit the weaver in town to pick up thread and material for some more winter clothes," Perra had taken to calling Kal's mother 'Mom' almost as soon as she moved in, "after we got done with speech lessons she had me saddle up the horse then turned me loose for the day. Thought I might see what you and Ikuno were up to."

"Okay that all makes sense, but what doesn't is: who in their right mind hears a monster or dragon roar and runs TOWARDS it?"

Perra blushed, "To be honest, I could sort of tell it was Ikuno."

Ikuno went purple with embarrassment yet again, "What? How?"

Kal was giving the girl a piercing stare, the question plain on his face.

Perra sat back in a huff returning his glare, "When you two send me out for an hour at a time to 'pick berries' or 'gather herbs' those berries and herbs aren't always that far from the cave, you and Ikuno can both get rather noisy."

Kal blushed scarlet, Ikuno gave up and pulled the blankets up over her head which meant Kal was once again grabbing at the furs to keep himself covered. Perra doubled over laughing at them which thankfully broke the mood, with Kal then Ikuno, after she poked her head out from under the blankets, soon joining in.

Once they had calmed down Kal spoke up, "I don't quite get the thing about why monster girls can't consider me a husband, not that I really want them to I just don't understand."

"That's more for their benefit and not hurting their expectations but what's really important is your feelings on it. Once you give yourself to someone, the way that I gave myself to you, the magic ties with all the rest will be gone. You could get high-quality ink from squid girl, wherever she may be, but I would no longer be yours, and yes, I would know immediately."

Perra gave Ikuno a confused look, "If he's out there sleeping with all these women, won't you get jealous?"

Ikuno smiled, "In my homeland's culture the most powerful men in the land may have one wife but the number of concubines he can keep is a symbol of how strong and virile they are. So, no I really don't," she looked down at Kal, "as long as he never stops loving me."

Perra held her hands up, "Hold up! Save that stuff for after I've gone home."

Ikuno smiled, "Fair enough. Back to your question, many monster girls feel the same deep down but with humans demonizing sex with them once they catch a man they are very unwilling to let him go and find other mates."

"You said that there was magic in sex, why is there no mention of using it in any of the books you had me read?" asked Kal.

Ikuno frowned, "There used to be Eromancers and Love Oracles, but they were slowly corrupted by greed and power, eventually disappearing altogether. Now their spells are only used in dark magics, many of the positive spells like the compatibility spell have been lost to time or are buried deep in magical libraries and known to only a few."

Kal shook his head, "I've learned of sex magics. Talked about how I'm supposed to put together some kind of harem to become a runesmith. All while butt naked under a blanket with the giant blue woman who just pledged her life to me and the girl I'm living with. This has to be the strangest moment of my life." The girls laughed for a moment at Kal's observation then Perra got up and put her chair back in the library.

Coming back, she said, "I suppose it's about time I leave you two to your fun. One last question Ikuno. Why him, what makes Kal so special that you would give yourself to him like this?"

"You forget how old I am Perra, Kal isn't the first man, or woman, I have given myself to like this, but the last one passed away many years before I came to live here. I am also a living spirit which means I have a shrine back in my homeland and as long as that shrine still stands I may be killed but I will not truly die, though it may take a few years to make myself a new body. That makes me essentially immortal so it's very likely Kal won't be the last."

She looked down at Kal, "As to 'why him?' Because he's a good man, he tries hard to make the people around him happy, and he makes me happy. Beyond that, there is a strange power inside him that I believe will take him on a very interesting journey. And finally, because I love him, I realized that a while ago, hearing him tell me he loved me today I was so shocked I didn't even know what to do." She looked up at Perra, "Does that answer your question?"

Perra was looking thoughtfully at Kal, "I think so," leaning down she gave Kal a peck on the cheek before walking around the bed and giving Ikuno a hug goodbye. "Since you two are celebrating, I'll take care of the farm tomorrow and tell Mom that you will be back the day after, call it my 'congratulations' gift. See you in a couple days Kal." Walking towards the cave entrance she pulled a stone out of a pocket and whispered, "Luma," the stone glowed brightly as she made her way out of the cavern.

Ikuno watched the light gradually recede, "Your mother has done an amazing job, she hardly sounds like the peasant girl we met months ago."

Kal nodded as the light from Perra's stone faded completely, "She falls back into her old way of talking when she's stressed or angry, but even then, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be," he looked at Ikuno, "I think I just got tomorrow off."

"I know just what we can do with that time. However, earlier you gave me hard and fast now I need soft and slow." She threw the covers off spreading her arms and legs in invitation.

Kal crawled over and slid his still hardening prick into Ikuno's wet sex, he leaned forward and kissed each of her nipples before laying his head between her breasts. Getting comfortable he began to slowly slide in and out of the oni.

Ikuno gently ran her fingers through his hair and smiled, "When I said, 'soft and slow' I didn't quite mean this slow."

Kal chuckled, "Have mercy, Ikuno, this will be the fifth time today and it's not even midday yet. After everything that happened this morning, I'm a little sore, not to mention a bit tired."

"Then let me take care of your soreness at least and I'll let you rest," Ikuno said trying to push him off.

Kal buried himself to the hilt in the oni, drawing a gasp from her, then held her tight, refusing to be moved with the help of Ikuno's strength spell. "Nuh-uh, I like being inside you, it feels good.

Ikuno stopped trying to lift him off. "I'm yours Kal, you can have me any time and anyway you want now, all you need is to ask. There's no reason to be uncomfortable."

"It's more annoying than uncomfortable, not worth pulling out," he said smiling.

"Fine then," she relented then wrapped her arms around him and crossed her legs behind his back holding him in place. "You relax and let me do the work." Her pussy gripped his member tight then began making the rippling motion that normally only happened when she came. he effect was like having a hand wrapped in warm silk massaging up and down his length.

Kal did as Ikuno said, nestling his head into the valley between her breasts and letting his arms fall to the sides. Ikuno rubbed his back as the tension drained out of him, however, relaxing like this was making him acutely aware of the pleasurable feelings coming from his groin. Ikuno had amazing control, sometimes just squeezing his entire cock rhythmically then switching and tightening at just the base before moving that tightness up to the head. Alternating between that and the reverse where she squeezed the head and went down made it feel like he was actually thrusting into her without moving. She started rolling her hips from side to side and the added twisting sensation was sending him quickly towards his release. Since it was his fifth time that day it took quite a while before he felt the familiar tightness at the base of his cock. He put his arms around Ikuno and started making small thrusts with his hips. Ikuno groaned as he suddenly gripped her tight, grinding his crotch into hers as he filled her.

Kal gave one last shove as the last of his seed shot into Ikuno's waiting sex. Soon after, his body went limp, his cock softening inside her as his breathing became deep and regular. Ikuno rolled him off her onto the other side of the bed. leaning down she gently cleaned him with her mouth, which got a sleepy hum of appreciation from Kal, then covered him up. She was about to join him under the covers when a spark of magic jumped between the tips of her horns.

Her eyes widened, and she put a hand just above her sex, she could feel the power in Kal's essence pulsing there. Her magic stores were already overflowing, and she had only just started to absorb the energy within his seed. Ikuno jumped from the bed and bolted for the cave entrance formulating a quick plan, if she only had enough time to put it in action.

Bare naked she ran out of the cave and immediately turned towards a trail that ran up the mountain. Part of the reason she had chosen this particular cave had been the close proximity to a mountain spring. Not far up the mountain she had found a small waterfall,about chest height to her, that dumped onto a wide and deep ledge. Over the years she had chiseled out a small pool beneath it for her to soak in and pushed the waterfall back far enough and high enough to be a proper shower, with a little magic it became a warm one as well. Ikuno ran full tilt up the trail, vaulting over boulders and rocks she would normally have walked around.

Getting close to her bathing spot Ikuno shook her head to try to clear the fog that was creeping into her mind. Gritting her teeth, she pulled up the images of the spells she needed and magic circles flared to life in her hands. Cresting the ledge, she extended both arms and twin beams of energy lanced out chewing into the rock. About a half a minute later she felt her thoughts grow clearer again, a few seconds after that she felt the flow of Kal's essence into her taper off and stop. The beams flickered out and Ikuno looked at her handiwork, long furrows the width of a man were gouged into the ledge, deep enough that Kal could have stood in one and just barely peeked over the top.

Looking at the waterfall then at the rents she had made in the rock, an idea came to her.

"Two birds, one stone," she said aloud. Holding her hands out even larger beams of magic began pulverizing rock into dust again as she directed the gouges towards the waterfall.

Ikuno considered today and tomorrow to be a honeymoon of sorts, thanks to Perra, and the oni planned on enjoying it just like any other newlywed. Smiling, Ikuno poured more power into the beams.

* * *

Sometime later Ikuno stared down at Kal's sleeping form, her horns their normal golden color until about halfway up, where they turned glossy black. Thinking back to her mad dash to burn all the extra power he had given her, the oni shook her head, "What on earth are you boy…" Putting it out of her mind, she crawled into bed and curled up with her young lover, Kal mumbling contentedly in his sleep as she wrapped herself around him.

Up on the mountainside a granite pool ten paces wide and double that long started to fill from the small waterfall nearby.

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kal cautiously opened his eyes as he returned to the waking world, the heavy furs covering him instead of his normal wool comforter making him pause for a moment. Smiling, he remembered he was not at home and turned to the side to see Ikuno sleeping peacefully next to him. Though not as striking as the changes when he first returned to the cave, as he continued to visit her skin color had deepened to a rich cobalt blue and the triangular marks on her cheeks had become almost imperceptible.

Her backswept horns had nearly returned to their normal golden color, with only the very tips still being dark. He had been concerned yesterday when he had awoken from his nap and the top halves of the oni's horns were completely black. Ikuno waved it off as nothing to worry about, then proceeded to make sure he was too distracted to worry about anything for the rest of the day and well into the night. At least he assumed it was into the night, Ikuno seemed to be able to tell what time of day it was just by smelling the air from outside, unfortunately, his nose wasn't nearly that sensitive.

His bladder, on the other hand, was absolutely certain it was morning, as was his rock-hard penis. Quickly and quietly, he slipped out from under the covers and padded barefoot over to the cubby in the back of the cavern that acted as a bathroom. It was little more than a hole in the ground with a swiftly flowing stream just a few inches below that quickly swept away anything that fell in. Wincing a bit as he bent his morning wood downward at the hole he was about to start his morning routine when he noticed there was no water down below.

Deciding to not take a chance on making the cave smell like a chamber pot, Kal scampered out into the main area of the cavern. Grabbing the glowing rock out of his pants pocket he then dashed for the cave entrance, his bladder complaining uncomfortably at the delay.

A few minutes later, a much relieved, and somewhat chilly, Kal came walking back into Ikuno's home. Looking over at the bed he noticed that Ikuno had shifted in her sleep. Now laying on her side, the twin cheeks of her blue bottom had become partially uncovered. Kal smiled and quietly walked over to pick up the jar of salve, carefully kneeling behind Ikuno's rear he forced himself to stay his normal size as he coated his prick with lube. In a single motion, he spread her cheeks and slowly began sliding his dick into Ikuno's backside.

Ikuno came awake with a start and a moan, accidentally shredding a portion of one of her blankets with her claws at the unexpected burst of pleasure coming from her rear. "Dammit, Kal," she panted, "A little warninnnNNGG!"

Kal allowed his enchanted prick to grow from normal to oni-sized inside her rear as she spoke. "Good Morning, Ikuno! Thought this would be a nice way to wake you up."

The oni couldn't help but think that his tone was far too bright and cheery for someone who had his cock buried in her ass.

Ikuno ground her rear against him, "It was a very nice way to wake up. Unfortunately…" she squeezed his cock so tight it was on the verge of painful then moved forward making him slip out, nearly dragging him with. "I have other plans for you today and I'm going to need you to have a nice big load built up for later."

"Ikuno…" Kal's eyes pleaded with her as his member bounced slightly in time with his heartbeat.

Ikuno sat up and kissed him, "If it hasn't gone away in a half an hour I'll take care of it. Right now though, let's get washed up and get something to eat, we have some traveling to do."

Much to Kal's annoyance, his erection had gone away before they reached the mouth of the cave, and well before Ikuno's deadline. Carrying only some soaps and linen towels they headed up the same mountain trail Ikuno had made her breakneck run the day before. Thankfully, the day had warmed and taken the chill out of the air since Kal relieved himself earlier. He still wasn't nearly as comfortable being naked outside as Ikuno but watching her rear sway in front of him with occasional flashes of her glistening sex as they walked towards her waterfall kept his mind off his nudity.

As they neared the ledge where her shower was found Ikuno called over her shoulder, "There have been some changes since the last time you were up here."

Kal looked across the ledge and his jaw dropped. There was a huge basin in the ledge that was slowly filling with water from the waterfall's runoff. "When did you do this?" he asked.

"Yesterday while you were sleeping," she replied. Noting that her new pool had only filled about a quarter of the way since she had left it, "I wanted to make sure we could enjoy ourselves without worrying about me getting drunk on magic again. Look here," she said drawing his attention to her horns, "they're almost back to normal again." Taking him by the hand she pulled him towards the waterfall, "Come on we have places to be, let's get washed up."

Ikuno thankfully remembered to warm the water from the waterfall before she and Kal stepped under it. There was almost as much touching and teasing going on as washing, more than once Ikuno seriously considered letting Kal have his way with her since he was giving as good as he got in the teasing department. Somewhere amidst all of this Ikuno managed to explain that once the pool was filled and the rest of the stream down the mountain was flowing normally her lavatory should start working again.

Soon enough they were on their way back down, Kal in front this time much to his dismay, the view wasn't nearly as pleasant as the trip up. Back in the cave, Ikuno made them breakfast as he put together a small lunch and some snacks for their trip, Ikuno staunchly refusing to tell him where they were going, though she did tell him why. Kind of.

"In order for you to practice you're going to need more of those strips of leather which means I need more ink to make them. Since I used the last of the liquid for the ink's base we need to go and get something to replace it."

"This liquid we are getting requires me to have my balls full?"

Ikuno's face fell in the realization that this particular condition was a dead giveaway to her surprise she had planned, "Yes," she said.

"I think I pretty much figured out why. Ignoring the conversation from yesterday with Perra. Are you okay with this?"

She nodded, "I meant what I told her, yes I'm okay with this. Are you?"

Kal looked thoughtful, "To be honest I don't know. I think so, but I guess we won't find out for sure until we get there."

* * *

Packs ready and appetites sated they struck out. Their destination was a few hours to the north and they would have to cross over two mountain ridges before they came upon the flatter forested land that held their journey's end. On the far side of the second ridge Kal called for a rest, he was fit from working on the farm but trudging up and down a couple of mountains was making him sore in muscles he didn't know he had.

Kal kicked off his shoes and inspected the soles, "time to go see the shoemaker again, these are nearly worn through."

"Do my man's feet hurt? Does he need to be carried the rest of the way?" Ikuno teased.

Kal glared at her, "Your butt flap 'accidentally' got flipped up and stuck in your belt so I've been getting teased by that sexy ass of yours for the last few hours. Do you really want to put me in a position where my mouth is that close to your ears and neck?"

Ikuno's eyes widened, and her face flushed, "Okay, no piggy-back rides then."

"Aside from that, you're insistent that my balls be full when we get where we are going, and if I'm rubbing against your back for the next couple hours I don't think that will happen"

Ikuno flushed deeper purple as the thought of Kal spraying across her…

"Definitely, no piggy-back rides," she said breathing heavily, the boy was annoyingly good at teasing her back.

The path ahead was wide and had been fairly well traveled at one time. Looking back, Kal could see where it veered off to the east as it met the base of the mountain. It likely made it's way to the main road east of here then on through the mountain pass and into Perra's old village.

Since they were able to walk side by side Kal decided to ask Ikuno what she knew about the origins of monster girls.

"I have a couple books about them you could read back at home," she offered.

"I will probably look through them," said Kal, "however, by your estimation, I'm going to be having close relationships with some of them. I figure I should learn all I can, and you tend to know more than what the books can tell me."

"You're too perceptive sometimes Kal," said Ikuno smiling, "Here's the story you won't find in the books: The original monster girls were created long ago by a powerful wizard named Prentas as a means of defense. Opposed to senseless death, he created the monster girls to provide a more pleasant and non-lethal alternative to the normal spike traps and pitfalls, then populated a large area of forest around his tower with them. It worked for a time. But eventually, more powerful people started putting together all-female adventurer groups. The monster girls had a driving need to have sex with men but would let a woman pass through the forest unscathed.

"What happened to the women?" asked Kal.

"If the stories were true, nothing bad. Most of them came back out with riches well beyond what their original employers intended to pay them. A few of them claimed to feel wonderfully well fucked, but not all of them, and none who leaned more towards other women than men. On the other hand, all of them did claim to have felt 'very useful and appreciated' but none could recollect exactly what had happened inside the tower."

"He seems to have been a decent person."

"By almost all accounts he was, just a bit of a recluse."

"What happened then?"

"What do you think happened?" Ikuno asked.

"A forest full of monster girls, willing and happy to have sex with a man just for the fun of it, I imagine they showed up in droves."

"You would be correct. One of the edges of his forest bordered on a plain with a small river nearby. Soon a town sprouted up there, named Te'thalas after one of the wizard's past lovers he was very fond of which turned into a small city,. Te'thalas quickly grew to a small city then to a large one as supporting trades came in to keep up with demand. In less than a decade, it was the third largest city in the land, which was beginning to make the top two very nervous."

"That doesn't bode well."

Ikuno shook her head, "It didn't, first they leaned on Te'thalas's King to do something. Up till now he had been happily collecting the city's taxes but when he marched his army to the city to 'restore order' he realized his mistake. Te'thalas was made up almost entirely of immigrants who had no loyalty to the kingdom but a great deal of loyalty towards the city that put food on the table, kept their people happy and the men's dicks wet.

"The city had been growing too quickly to erect walls or battlements as its borders were pushed further outward each year. The decision was made for every able-bodied man to step up and defend the city out on the field. Written accounts of that day said there were rows upon rows of men in armor, with at least two hundred magic users behind them and beyond them lay a sea of peasants and tradesmen. The men in armor alone outnumbered the king's army three to one. According to those who were actually there most of those 'men in armor' had only barely managed to cobble something together that vaguely looked like armor and of the two hundred magic users less than a dozen had any real power, the rest barely having the skills to light a candle. Regardless, with such a show of solidarity, the king turned around and went back to his castle to mourn the loss of all those taxes since the city declared itself a sovereign state that day.

"Sadly, Te'thalas's victory was short-lived. Two weeks later the full military might of the largest city, Montar, marched into the area. With no time to build defenses, the response was the same, every able-bodied man and more than a few who weren't so able-bodied, took the field. The result, however, was far different."

"The army of Montar was an elite force that had many paladins and clerics wielding holy magics. They quickly took out the city's few magic users and after that it just became a slaughter, the well-trained soldiers killed every defender to the man, ignoring those who surrendered, pleas of mercy, and running down all who tried to escape. Once the men were all dead they marched into Te'thalas and hunted down all of the 'heathen' women and children."

"Holy hell…" Kal whispered, disgusted that another human could be so cruel as to kill defenseless women and children.

Ikuno hung her head as she remembered the tale as it had been told to her, "They didn't stop there. From Te'thalas they marched straight into the forest, ruthlessly slaughtering any and every monster girl they could find. When nearly all of the girls in the outer forest had been eradicated they began moving in toward the tower, that's when they tripped one of Prentas's wards."

"Those poor girls," Kal looked up at Ikuno and asked, "Where was he during all of this?"

"In Montar. The Montaran king had sent a special envoy to get him away from the city so they could attack, on the pretense of welcoming and opening relations with the new kingdom. When he felt his wards tripped he used a very powerful form of magic he had developed called teleportation to instantly take him back to the castle. What he found broke his heart."

"In a fit of grief and rage, Prentas killed every one of the attacking forces. Paladins, clerics, knights and even squires, anyone who had anything to do with the army died in less than a minute. Seeing his work there done he used his teleportation magic to go back to the Montar city."

"Uh-oh…"

"Uh-oh is right, unfortunately, I can't tell you what happened after that," said Ikuno cryptically.

Kal was indignant, "What! Why not! That's just cruel, Ikuno!"

The oni smirked then laughed, "Sorry, Kal, but I can't tell you because no one knows."

"How can no one know?" he asked confused, "it was the largest city in the land!"

"You are correct it 'was' the largest city," she said enjoying teasing the boy, "if you go there today all you will find is a lake that is an almost perfect circle known as Lake Montar."

"Noooo… he destroyed the entire city?" Kal asked in barely above a whisper.

"He did, though no one knows quite how since there were no survivors. When he returned to his tower he locked himself inside and didn't come out for a full year. When he finally emerged, he was a broken and frail man unable to forgive himself for the death of his city or his creations but mostly he couldn't forgive himself for all of the innocent lives in Montar taken by his own hand."

He spent a week preparing for his final spell, on the day of casting he said goodbye to the remaining monster girls that had survived the attack as well as a sprite named Kithala who was his most trusted friend and companion for many years. He stepped into the magic circle and used all the magic stored in the tower as well as his own lifeforce to cast his spell, burning his body to ash in the process. From what they were able to tell the spell raced across the earth transforming animals, plants, rocks, and various other things into monster girls seemingly at random. A decade or so later my shrine had soaked up enough of this magic that I was able to come to life."

"Wow, so you are kind of a 'first generation' monster girl," said Kal.

"I guess I've never thought of it that way but yes, I suppose I am," Ikuno said standing up a bit straighter before laughing at her own silliness.

"Whatever happened to the tower?" asked Kal.

"Time took it and it eventually crumbled, but the original monster girls still guard where it used to stand," seeing Kal's confused look she continued, "the original ones were meant as defenses for the tower and were made to be immortal, but sterile. Kithala wrote that after the attacks he spent the year in solitude trying to change them into mortals and allow them to have children as his last gift. However, they refused, wanting him to give their gift to the world instead of just fixing them."

"You're lying," stated Kal.

Ikuno was so taken aback she stopped, "What? I am not!"

"I can tell in your voice Ikuno, you didn't read what Kithala said, she told you in person didn't she?"

Ikuno huffed, "You are far too damn perceptive for a farmer boy."

* * *

Ikuno noticed something on the trail ahead and stopped Kal.

"We're almost there so I suppose it's time I tell you a bit more about what we are doing here. Off in the woods, there is an alarune. Her name is Aradelle and she's a good friend of mine, we've been lovers more than once and she's always been kind enough to take the edge off times when I hadn't been with a human in a while."

"You've been with women too?" Kal couldn't help but be intrigued.

"Maybe I spoke too soon on you being perceptive, I told you and Perra yesterday that I've given myself to women in the past."

"You did, didn't you. I suppose I just didn't put much thought into what you meant by that. Are you wanting to be with her again?" asked Kal, surprised at himself that he felt more curious than hurt at the idea.

Ikuno seemed a bit flustered, "Well… yes, I do. But we aren't here for me, we're here for you and for her. I want you to do something very special for her.

"What's that?"

"Give her a child."

Kal was dumbstruck, "What?!" his voice came out as a wheeze.

"Let me explain before you freak out," she said, "each alarune takes after a specific flower, 'Dell's flower blooms very late in the season, only a week or two before the leaves change color and fall. People hardly ever use this road anymore, but all traffic pretty much stops about the time it turns chilly in the morning. Because of that, she has never managed to catch a man when she was in season, in the twenty years I've known her she has never had a child. So, what I'm suggesting is you get me what I need for your ink and in return, you give her a child."

"What exactly is it you need from her for the ink?" Kal asked.

"Her nectar, it was the base for your ink on the shield rune and her magic is a big part of the reason it lasted so long."

"I have to say I wasn't expecting you to be asking me to become a father when we left this morning, but it's plain you care a lot about this Aradelle. Having never met her I can't say that I'm doing this for her," he looked Ikuno square in the eyes, "but I will do it for you."

Ikuno squealed in happiness and hugged Kal, lifting him off the ground planting kisses all over his face punctuated by, "Thank you… thank you… thank you…"

She set him down and motioned for him to follow her, grinning she said, "Try to be quiet as I have a plan that should make this fun."

* * *

Kal could just make out the plant girl through the underbrush he and Ikuno were crouching in, he had to admit she was very pretty in an alien kind of way. Aradelle stood in the center of a large bulb a couple paces wide with five long thin petals coming from the top that were white in the center then changed to a brilliant blue about a third of the way out. Her body coloring matched this, with her torso being almost pure white but changing to blue on her upper thighs and just past her shoulders making her look like she had on long blue gloves and stockings. Her body was fairly petite with two small blue nipples topping a pair of equally small breasts and just above her sex was a bright yellow marking on her mound where a human girl would have hair.

Aradelle's hair was almost as blue as Ikuno's skin but her most striking feature was her eyes, lacking any pupil or iris her iridescent blue eyes almost reminded him of an insect in the way they shimmered in the light filtering through the nearby trees. Kal had also noticed that even though she moved around the center of the flower she never took a step, just gliding from place to place

As Kal and Ikuno watched she appeared to be cleaning some wrist-thick vines that rose up into her hands where she would remove any dirt or twigs they had collected on their leaves.

Whispering so they didn't alert Aradelle to their presence Ikuno turned to Kal, "I'm going to get her extremely worked up then when I have her distracted I'll wave you over so you can sneak up and slip inside her. Try to make it fast so she doesn't have time to react."

"I'm still not sure about this Ikuno, I know she's your friend and all, but this doesn't feel right."

Ikuno grinned evilly, "If you are concerned about her being willing, don't be, by the time I give you the signal she will be a lot more than willing. Once she feels you inside her she will be ecstatic. Don't worry Kal, if she didn't want it then your enchanted dick would let you know, remember you couldn't force her even if you wanted to."

Kal held his hands up, "Okay, okay I get it. What do you need me to do?"

"Once I walk out to her move up to the edge of the clearing but stay hidden. I'll get 'Dell to turn away from you, then you come up behind her and slide in, we'll see what happens from there," she said almost shaking in anticipation.

"Damn, Ikuno. What's got you so worked up?" asked Kal.

"I really do care about 'Dell, Kal, and with your help, she's about to have one of her dreams come true. I can't help but be a little excited. Now for the last part, and you may hate me for this." She reached for his trousers and started tugging them down.

"Ikuno?!" he was so surprised he almost forgot to whisper.

She got his pants down far enough to reveal his cock then wrapped a hand around it and began stroking him, quickly getting it hard, "Shhhh," she shushed him glancing towards the alarune, "I need a little something from you to help make sure she's distracted. Just make sure you don't cum in my hand."

Kal was quickly breathing heavy from the pleasure as Ikuno's hand worked up and down his shaft. As he started to feel like he might cum soon he felt a bit of wetness on the head of his dick as a little bit of pre-cum leaked out.

"That's what I needed," whispered Ikuno as she tightened her grip and wrung out a few more droplets, bringing her other hand up to catch them.

Kal's eyes widened in surprise as she brought her hands together smearing the clear liquid between them then began applying it like a lotion to her face, neck, and the tops of her breasts. Ikuno suppressed a chuckle at the look on Kal's face, "Quickly now, over to where I showed you," she said, pointing at the side of the clearing opposite where she would be coming out.

Kal nodded and Ikuno gave him a kiss on the forehead before they separated, Kal's hiding spot was closer and he arrived well before Ikuno was ready. Figuring it would make things easier he stripped his clothes off, then taking his dick in his hand he got himself hard as he waited for the oni to make her appearance.

* * *

Aradelle was absent-mindedly inspecting and cleaning her vines when she caught the scent of something very pleasant. A moment later she heard heavy footfalls coming from the forest. With the scent of a human man getting stronger, she raised her vines in anticipation of either attempting to capture the human or a fight when a large blue figure stepped around a tree and into the clearing.

"Ikki!" squealed Aradelle, clapping her hands together and bouncing excitedly.

"Hello Beautiful," said Ikuno, standing at the clearing edge.

Aradelle pouted, "That's not nice Ikki," her hands slipped down between her legs and started playing with her folds, "you know what man-scent does to me and you smell like you are positively covered in it."

Ikuno smiled and stepped towards the alarune, "I'm sorry 'Dell let me see if I can make it up to you." Only a couple of strides and the oni was standing in front of Aradelle, taking the alarune's face in her hands Ikuno kissed her hard on the lips, their tongues slipping into each other's mouths.

Aradelle broke the kiss, panting with lust she looked at the oni. "Dammit Ikuno you ARE covered in man scent," the alarune frowned, "and at this time of the year too."

Ikuno gave Aradelle a mischievous smile, "As I said, let me see if I can make it up to you." Ikuno kissed her again one hand going to her back to hold her tight and the other reaching down, pushing the alarune's hands aside so she could play with the folds of Aradelle's pussy. With her hands denied access to her sex she threw her arms around the oni's neck, the vines mimicked her arms and wrapped around Ikuno's waist. The alarune never noticed the small wave Ikuno made towards the forest.

Aradelle broke the kiss and moved her mouth to the oni's neck, the taste of a human male's juices sent shockwaves straight to her pussy, making her moan with desire. Ikuno had stopped playing with Aradelle's sex and was just spreading her open as the alarune's nectar ran down her hand. The plant girl was running her tongue over the dark spot on the oni's neck when she felt another body step into her flower.

"What?!" she tried to lift her head up, but Ikuno's hand was already on the back of her neck and she forced the alarune's lips onto her own. Aradelle's moan turned into a muffled shriek as the person behind her completely filled her pussy in one long thrust. She felt Ikuno nod to whoever was behind her and strong hands grabbed her waist as the cock inside her withdrew only to be forcefully shoved back inside drawing out another shriek of pleasure muffled by the mouth of the oni.

The person, the man, behind Aradelle wasted no time and began thrusting into her hard. Nectar streamed down her legs as Ikuno's fingers started making circles around her clit. The alarune went limp and Ikuno let her head fall into the valley between her breasts, the scent was so much stronger there. Her senses already overloaded, she opened her mouth letting her tongue peek out from between her lips. As the man behind her thrust forward it pressed her tongue into the oni's skin, the flavors of Ikuno's sweat mixed with human male lit up her taste buds and pushed her over the edge. A moan turned into a wail then into a full-blown scream as the petite body of the alarune shook in the throes of her orgasm, vines that had been wrapped around Ikuno's waist fell to the ground and shuddered weakly as the petals of the alarune's flower vibrated with her climax. Her mind unable to cope with the pleasure racing through her body, Aradelle passed out.

Kal stopped while buried inside the alarune. Even asleep Aradelle was still having aftershocks from her orgasm, the feeling was quite pleasant as she occasionally squeezed his prick. He looked up at Ikuno, "Is she alright?"

Ikuno took Aradelle's face between her hands and kissed the unconscious girl's forehead, "She will be amazing when she wakes up." Kal pulled out as Ikuno sat on the side of the flower and laid the girl across her lap. She looked over at Kal, "have a seat, 'Dell usually recovers quickly."

Kal was certainly hoping so, his erection hadn't wavered a bit since the girl passed out. Looking down, he saw that his feet were partially covered in the alarune's sticky nectar. He also noticed that she didn't have any feet, her legs turning into short thick vines where her ankles would be and those were attached to the center of the flower. The sides of the flower's central bulb were surprisingly sturdy so Kal took Ikuno's advice and sat down to wait for the girl to wake up.

A few minutes later Aradelle's eyes fluttered open, she could feel Ikuno sitting on her lower body but there was someone else… gasping and sitting up as her memory returned she saw the man sitting on the other side of the bulb. Vines whipped up and pointed at his face, small openings in the ends puffing out purple clouds of aphrodisiac. A blue hand came around from behind Aradelle… and flicked her in the forehead.

"Owwwwch!" the alarune complained rubbing the spot Ikuno's finger had hit her, "what was that for Ikki?!"

Ikuno glared, "One: Because that was rude. Two: He's not running away. Three: It didn't work on him anyway." Ikuno looked up at Kal, "Kal I'd like you to meet Aradelle, 'Dell meet the man who claimed me, Kal."

"Claimed you?" Aradelle's iridescent eyes widened in surprise as Ikuno lifted her chin and tapped the dark spot on her neck, those eyes then narrowed in anger as she stood up turning towards Kal, her vines rearing up menacingly, "What kind of monster are you to think you can own Ikki!"

A blue hand appeared in front of her face again, "Hey!" she squeaked, covering her forehead and ducking to the side.

Ikuno was now standing beside her bulb and calmly withdrew her hand, "I gave myself to him 'Dell, and that's no way to treat the man who agreed to be the father of your child."

Aradelle looked between Ikuno and Kal, "Really?" she whispered barely believing what she'd heard.

"Really," said Ikuno as Kal nodded.

"Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried throwing herself into Ikuno's arms.

Ikuno hugged the girl tight, "You're welcome dear, but I'm not the only one you should be thanking."

Aradelle turned to Kal, looking down and fidgeting she said quietly, "Thank you, Kal, this means a lot to me." She fidgeted for a moment longer before turning to Ikuno and whispering, "Ikki! What do I do? I've never done this without my dust working on them!"

Ikuno couldn't help but laugh at the alarune's predicament, even Kal smiled since he was sitting right there and heard everything Aradelle said.

"It's not funny Ikki! I really don't know what to do!"

"I'm going to leave you two alone," Kal gave her a questioning look and Aradelle looked confused. Walking over to Kal she kissed him on the cheek. "Kal is a wonderful lover, 'Dell, he will take very good care of you." Turning around, she began to walk towards the woods.

Kal and Aradelle looked at each other and a moment of understanding passed between them.

"Can you pick her up?" he asked.

"Yes," Aradelle smiled.

"Get her."

Ikuno screeched as twin vines wrapped around her torso and lifted her into the air bringing her back to the alarune.

"Oof, she's heavy," said Aradelle.

"Let me go!" Ikuno yelled.

"You brought this whole thing together, it doesn't seem right to do this without you," said Kal.

"Agreed," chimed in Aradelle setting the oni down but not removing the vines.

"You don't understand, I can't," Ikuno said dejectedly.

"What do you mean you can't? You told me out on the trail that you wanted to be with her again."

"I gave myself to you Kal, I can't be with anyone else without…" Ikuno stopped herself.

"Without what, Ikuno," Kal pressed.

Ikuno sighed, "Without permission."

Aradelle gasped tears coming to her eyes, "That means you can't be with me anymore?"

Ikuno shook her head sadly.

Kal was glaring at the oni, "So by my understanding, you expected me to travel the world collecting supplies for my inks by sleeping with who knows how many women. Much of which, according to your own words, I will be doing alone. While you sit at home and wait for me to come back without even having the option of coming up here to 'take the edge off' as you put it earlier."

Ikuno nodded slowly.

"This isn't worth it if it will end up making you suffer, Ikuno"

Her face was stony, "Would you have me go chasing after any dick I can get when you aren't around?"

Kal looked like he had bitten into something sour. No he didn't like the idea of Ikuno being with another man, she belonged to him now and like hell would he let another man steal her away. His eyes flicked to Aradelle. On the other hand, he had gotten pretty excited when she had been warming up 'Dell for him. He took a moment to imagine Ikuno bent over being fucked by one of Aradelle's vines. He realized he didn't get the same feeling. He knew they cared about each other, he just didn't feel… threatened… that he might lose her to Aradelle the way he might to another man.

"You're right, I don't like that idea one bit," Aradelle looked like she was about to burst into tears. "However, I don't seem to have a problem with you being with other women, especially ones I trust."

Ikuno looked skeptical, "And you trust Aradelle even though you only met her a few minutes ago?"

"No, I trust you Ikuno, and since you and Aradelle have known each other for longer than I've been alive, if you trust her then so do I."

Kal stood up and drew himself up as tall as he could, standing in Aradelle's flower he was almost the same height as Ikuno, attempting to look official and commanding he said, "Therefore! You have my permission to be with women I trust, I have claimed, or I am planning on claiming." He smiled, "though I should always be the first option if I'm around."

Kal felt more than saw a flicker in the magic around him and Ikuno, he would need to ask Ikuno about that later.

Ikuno stared at him, then shook her head "I love you, but you look like an idiot."

Aradelle burst out laughing, her arms crossed over her belly she collapsed into the flower at Kal's feet.

Kal visibly deflated, "It wasn't that bad was it?"

Ikuno grinned and started to undo the buckles on her clothing, "No it wasn't, in fact, it was a wonderful thing you did for me and her," Aradelle was slowly catching her breath until she looked up at Kal and collapsed into a fresh bout of giggles, about the third one so far. Ikuno finished undressing and kicked her clothes to the side.

"But Kal, you simply cannot make such grandiose speeches like that while naked," she glanced at his crotch, "and with a boner."

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Kal looked down, "Why is it still hard? I haven't been thinking about anything to keep it that way."

Aradelle shrugged, looking embarrassed, while Ikuno's brow furrowed in thought. "Perhaps there's more to 'Dell's aphrodisiac than just making men mad with lust," suggested the oni. "There may be something else in the dust that makes a man hard for a time as well, whether he wants to be or not."

Aradelle looked at Kal, "I don't know, my dust has always worked, so this has never happened before."

Kal wrapped a hand around his prick for a moment before quickly pulling it away, "Damn, that's sensitive, I feel like I could cum in just a couple of strokes. Is there any way to make it stop? If I get super sensitive afterwards, like usual, this could get painful for me really quick." Kal looked at Aradelle, "I'd rather enjoy our time together instead of being done in a couple of seconds and having to stop because it hurts."

Aradelle looked embarrassed once again and fidgeted, refusing to look Kal in the face. Kal wondered if alarunes were unable to blush as this was the third time he had expected to see her cheeks go red from how she was acting, but they remained nearly pure white. The alarune spoke hesitantly, "There have been a couple of men in the past who drank my nectar and they appeared to recover from my dust a few moments after. There's plenty around your feet if you want to try it."

Kal raised an eyebrow and looked at Ikuno who smiled and nodded in response. "Let's see if that works," Kal said and dropped to his knees directly in front of the alarune. Aradelle let out a cute squeak and attempted to back away in surprise, only to bump into Ikuno who had moved behind her.

Ikuno wrapped her arms around the trapped alarune and began to kiss the smaller woman's neck. "But… I thought," Aradelle was quickly getting flustered as Ikuno brushed her hair aside and gently nibbled on her ear, "all that down there…" Aradelle let out a moan as Ikuno's hands came up to her chest and softly brushed against her hardened nipples.

Kal smiled and shook his head as he slowly spread the alarune's legs, "My feet have been down there. I'd rather have some straight from the source." Ikuno moved her hands down to Aradelle's legs and lifted them up in front of her, as though she was sitting on a chair, before spreading them wide and displaying her dripping sex for Kal. Aradelle hid her face in her hands in embarrassment but made no attempt to close her legs or cover her pussy.

Kal took a moment to appreciate the alien beauty before him. The yellow markings above her sex ran all the way down her lips making her womanhood look, quite literally, like the petals of a flower. Aradelle clenched in anticipation making her slit open for a moment, allowing Kal to see that only the outside was brilliant yellow, and the inside quickly turned a blue that was a few shades darker than the petals of her flower.

The alarune quivered as Kal leaned in and ran his tongue up her inner thigh where it met her pelvis. The area had been soaked with nectar from earlier and Kal found it to be startlingly sweet but also very light. Unlike honey, he felt that he could drink the slippery liquid all day. The way her sex dripped in an almost steady stream to the flower below he had little doubt she could produce more than enough if he ever wanted to try.

Kal leaned in and ran his tongue along her folds. The texture was different than he was expecting, being soft and silky but with an underlying roughness that was very distinct from Ikuno. He quickly realized that, much like how they looked, the strange texture was similar to a flower petal.

Aradelle was still hiding behind her hands and gasped as his tongue ran up and down the lips of her slit. Her hips jerked involuntarily, and a small rush of nectar flowed out as he lightly brushed over her clit. Ikuno had stopped nibbling on the alarune's neck, panting with desire she as she intently watched Kal tease Aradelle. Looking up the alarune's body and seeing her expression, Kal gave her a questioning look.

The oni seemed momentarily embarrassed as she returned his gaze. "I didn't think watching you would turn me on so much, keep going, quit worrying about me," she said breathing heavily.

Kal smirked and nodded, focusing his attention back on Aradelle. Flattening his tongue, he started where her nectar dripped to the flower below and slowly dragged it all the way up to her clit, sucking it into his mouth and flicking it side to side with the tip of his tongue.

Moaning loudly, one of Aradelle's arms reached back and hooked around Ikuno's neck while her other hand grasped the hair on the back of Kal's head. The alarune pulled Kal's head forward as she ground her sex into his face. Kal was having a hard time maintaining contact with her clit so he grabbed ahold of her hips to keep her in place. Unable to escape Kal's tongue, Aradelle laid her head back on Ikuno's shoulder and let out a high-pitched keen as her orgasm washed over her.

Kal continued tormenting Aradelle's clit until he felt a rush of nectar start flowing from the alarune's squeezing pussy. Her nerveless fingers let go as he moved his head down and began drinking the sweet fluid that poured from her sex.

The flow tapered off as Aradelle began to relax, her breath coming in gasps as she recovered. Kal stood and planted kisses on the alarune's belly making his way up to her small breasts and teasing her nipples as she sagged limply in Ikuno's arms.

"Ikki," said Aradelle as she continued to catch her breath, "You are one lucky bitch you know that? I need you to promise me you will bring him back here, so we can do this again."

Ikuno smiled and kissed Aradelle on the cheek, "Already planning on the next visit and you haven't even gotten to the best part of this one? Besides you know that I will be back in two weeks for certain."

"I won't be able to do this again in two weeks, Ikki, you know that."

Kal stood and wrapped a hand around the base of his cock then snatched it away like he had been burnt, "Nope not yet. What happens in two weeks?" he asked looking at the girls.

Aradelle stared at Kal then buried her face in Ikuno's neck, "You tell him Ikuno!"

Kal couldn't help but think it was odd for Aradelle to act so embarrassed considering Ikuno was still holding her up with her legs spread wide open for him.

He glanced at Ikuno and saw that she was looking back at him with a very calculating expression. "Not yet, Kal, I'll tell you when we are all done. For now, try to stop thinking in solely human terms for a while. Things often work very differently for monster girls compared to humans," said Ikuno sternly. Aradelle lifted her head off the oni's shoulder and nodded vigorously.

Kal dipped his head in acknowledgment, thinking that with all the interactions he would be having with monster girls in the future, doing as Ikuno asked would probably be wise. He was curious why she was being so serious all of a sudden. Trying to put it out of his mind, he checked again to see if he was still under the effects of 'Dell's aphrodisiac. Wrapping his hand around the base of his prick he immediately noticed that he wasn't about to cum at the slightest touch anymore, his sensitivity also seemed to be returning to normal quickly. "I think I'm about ready," Kal looked at Aradelle, "I know what Ikuno told me, but I want to hear it from you. Do you want me to be the father of your child?"

Aradelle gave Ikuno a questioning look, "I thought you…"

Ikuno smiled back, "It's one of the things I love about him. Just tell him what you want, dear, or will never touch you again with that beautiful cock of his. He doesn't just want to hear it from you, he NEEDS to hear it from you."

Aradelle looked back at Kal, reaching down between her splayed legs she used her fingers to spread the lips of her sex open, "Please give me a daughter, I want this more than anything."

Kal's prick throbbed at the alarune's display, he had been expecting a simple 'yes' or 'no.' Nodding, he reached to the side and grabbed one of Aradelle's vines. "I don't think you dragged Ikuno back here just to be a bystander. I'm guessing you have used these on her before?"

"Kal!" hissed Ikuno.

Taking Aradelle's mischievous smile as an answer he held the end of the thick vine in the thin stream of nectar still leaking from the alarune. Once the tip was fully coated he let it go and it quickly slithered out of sight behind the girls, a moment later a gasp and blush from Ikuno told Kal it had reached the oni.

Kal stepped up and placed his cock at Aradelle's entrance, behind the alarune the nectar-slickened vine nudged at Ikuno's opening in the same manner. Kal leaned over and kissed Aradelle for the first time, the alarune's eyes closing as their tongues danced in each other's mouths. Kal wrapped one arm around Aradelle's petite body and the other wrapped around Ikuno's larger frame, even though his hand only barely reached her spine with Aradelle between them. Pulling them both into his embrace he steadily pushed into Aradelle until he bumped up against her cervix. The vine inside Ikuno mimicked his movements and made both women groan in pleasure.

Kal kissed Aradelle once again, "Welcome to motherhood."

Aradelle's eyes snapped open, her reaction shocked both Kal and Ikuno as she suddenly went rigid and screamed in climax her arms and legs wrapping around Kal as her pussy squeezed down on his cock.

"Keep going!" Ikuno hissed at him but Kal was already moving, sliding out until only the head was left inside then plunging back into the trembling plant girl.

Aradelle's grip on him began to loosen and her body started to go limp, Kal looked up at Ikuno, "If she passes out I'm stopping."

Aradelle mumbled, "Nooo, don't stop, I need this, please don't stop."

Kal thrust into her a little faster, "Silly woman, I didn't mean stop completely. I meant I'm going to make sure you are awake the moment you become a mother."

Aradelle moaned loudly, her sex clamping down on Kal as she climaxed again.

Having continued to thrust through the extreme tightness of both of Aradelle's orgasms, Kal was beginning to get the feeling that his own release was almost upon him.

Ikuno noticed the telltale stutter in Kal's hips, she leaned down next to Aradelle's ear while looking at Kal, "Do it Kal, fill her up, give her a child, make 'Dell a mother." For the third time, Aradelle's mind and body exploded in pleasure, amplified by the feeling of being filled with Kal's essence as she clamped down and set him off as well. Kal buried himself inside the alarune as far as he could, the tip just brushing the entrance to her womb

Ikuno held both of them as they rode out their orgasms and came down from their lovemaking. Kal's 'welcome to motherhood' stunt had left Aradelle in no condition to take care of the oni's needs, the vine inside her had vibrated deliciously as the alarune climaxed the first time but had slipped out when Aradelle had gone limp. She was resigned to having to wait till next time, however, after watching something as amazing as the two people she cared most about create a child, her sex was in dire need of some attention.

Kal pulled back from Ikuno's embrace catching his breath and smiling at her, Aradelle was looking down at her belly lightly running a hand over the alabaster skin, "I'm going to be a mother," she whispered in awe. Aradelle sighed in contentment and leaned back into the valley between Ikuno's breasts, "You really have no idea how much this means to me," she said beaming a smile at Kal then looking up at Ikuno's face before reverently stroking her belly again, "I don't know how I could possibly thank you."

Kal was still buried inside Aradelle, not understanding fully that being with the alarune while she was in season was guaranteed to produce an offspring, unlike human women. He figured that keeping everything inside would increase her chances, though that would be difficult in a moment as he was beginning to soften. Kal looked down at Aradelle's belly, he 'felt' something. Stopping Aradelle's hand with his own he pushed it over and up a little, "There she is," he said then began pulling at Ikuno's arm tugging at it and waving for her to give him her hand. Ikuno changed how she was holding Aradelle to free up a hand and let Kal guide it over top of the alarune's. He looked up at Aradelle, "that's our daughter" the words felt strange in his mouth, "our daughter," he repeated. "Her daughter, that I'm the father of," he said as if in a daze.

Aradelle looked up at Ikuno, "Ikki, is he going to be okay?"

Ikuno smiled at the alarune, "He'll be fine in a minute or two. Sometimes it takes a little time for human men to adjust when they become fathers for the first time." She leaned down to Aradelle's ear and whispered, "only the good ones act like this."

"Ohhh," said Aradelle giving Kal an appraising look.

Kal took a step back, disengaging from Aradelle as his brain tried to process everything. Kal's legs gave out at that moment and he sat down hard on the rim of Aradelle's flower, prevented from toppling out by one of her vines slipping behind his back and propping him up.

"Ikuno?"

"Yes, Kal?"

Kal looked at her but his eyes didn't really focus, "I'm going to be a father, Ikuno." His vision suddenly went blurry, he brought a hand up to wipe away whatever was blocking his view and his hand came away wet. "I'm crying…" he looked at the girls then the wetness on his hand, "why am I crying?"

Ikuno moved her arm to set Aradelle down only for the alarune to float in the same position Ikuno had been holding her, supported by the thick vines that her legs turned into.

At Ikuno's annoyed look, Aradelle shrugged and gave her an impish smile, "I liked the feeling of you holding me."

Ikuno shook her head in mock exasperation and went over to Kal wrapping her arms around him, "Yes, you are going to be a father, Kal. How do you feel about that?"

The dazed look started to fade as Ikuno hugged him, "I'm stuck somewhere between jumping around with joy and terrified at the responsibility, does that make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense," said Ikuno holding his head to her chest.

A moment later Aradelle glided over and joined in comforting Kal wrapping her arms around his torso, she looked at Ikuno, "I think I know why you like him now."

"I imagine having to take care of a daughter so soon throws a wrench in my plans for learning magic," sighed Kal.

Ikuno's brow furrowed and Aradelle giggled, "I think it's time to explain what happens in two weeks."

Kal perked up, "You said something about that earlier, what happens then?"

"That," said Aradelle, her iridescent blue eyes were shining and she smiled wide as she backed up and put her hands over her belly, "Is when I give birth."

Kal's jaw dropped, he quickly collected himself remembering what Ikuno said about monster girls being very different from humans.

"She won't give birth to a baby like humans do," Ikuno elaborated, "instead she will birth a seed."

"Yup!" continued Aradelle happily, "and while I hibernate this winter I will get to hold her the entire time and pass some of my knowledge to her," Aradelle's face fell, "then spring will come."

Kal was confused by the sudden change in the alarune, "What happens in the spring?" he asked looking between the two women.

"I promised 'Dell that I would be back the spring after she had her child to take the seed and plant it, I have a spot picked out not far from my cave."

"That means you won't get to see your daugh…" Kal caught himself, "our daughter, grow up."

Aradelle glided over and hugged Kal, "Aww, you're so sweet but other than getting to visit where she's planted you won't really get to watch her grow up either."

Seeing Kal's confused expression, Ikuno spoke up, "Alarune's pass on knowledge to their young while in the seed because other than a sapling to catch sunlight they stay underground until fully mature, which can take a few years. I'm sorry Kal if you were thinking it was going to be like raising a human baby. You will still be able to visit her sprout, just make sure it's the right one, alarune sprouts mimic that of one of the plants nearby for protection." Ikuno chuckled, "It would be embarrassing if you got caught cooing and making baby talk at a regular oak or elm."

"Going from being a new father in two weeks to finding out I won't actually meet her for… how many years?" asked Kal.

"Hard to tell since it changes depending on the alarune's affinity, the richness of the soil, availability of water, and how much sunlight she gets as to how many years pass before she comes above ground and can form a body like 'Dell, after that it's usually another two years before she becomes sexually mature."

"I don't think I really needed to know that part Ikuno."

"I think you do, Kal," chimed in Aradelle, "once she becomes fully mature she won't care that you are her father, only that you are a human male. Her drive to mate will be just as strong with you as with any other man. She can overcome it with time, but it may be rough on you both for a couple of years."

Aradelle fidgeted, rubbing her thighs together and looking bashful again, "Speaking of mating, ummm… Could we do it again? It's been a very long time since I was last with a man."

"Certainly," Kal said smiling, "But there's someone who needs our attention first." Kal looked up at Ikuno.

"Oh yes! Most definitely!" said Aradelle.

"Wait! No!" yelled Ikuno as strong vines wrapped around her and dragged the laughing oni into the middle of the flower.

* * *

Kal awoke and looked outside the little shack he and Ikuno were sleeping in, Ikuno had explained before falling asleep that she had built the hut for Aradelle to increase her chances of snaring a male traveler. Enchantments alerted the alarune if there was an unescorted male in the area and the shack was situated directly downwind of Aradelle on the trail that Kal and Ikuno had taken from the mountains. Itoffered a place to rest with another weaker enchantment to make the traveler feel slightly tired, allowing Aradelle the opportunity to release her aphrodisiac dust and have it drift down to the small building's occupant. Since the trail was rarely used, and even less so by unaccompanied travelers with the constant possibility of bandits and predatory monster girls, the setup had rarely proven effective. Instead, it had mostly become a handy place for Ikuno to spend the night during her visits.

He stepped outside and took care of his normal morning business before starting to pack their things for the trip back home. Ikuno had yet to stir which came as no surprise to the farmer boy. Aradelle had made sure to show the oni just how much she appreciated everything Ikuno had done to the point of completely exhausting the cobalt skinned woman. Ikuno's legs had still been shaking as they arrived at the shack last night. He had to admit, Aradelle had some serious stamina.

"Uh oh," Kal said picking up an empty ceramic jar. With everything that they had done yesterday he and Ikuno had forgotten their other reason for visiting Aradelle. Looking at Ikuno's sleeping form he decided to go see the alarune before coming back and waking her. He didn't expect to be gone long since their activities yesterday had left quite a bit of nectar in the middle of Aradelle's flower.

Tromping back through the woods Kal reached Aradelle after a few minutes to find the large outer flower petals had all risen up, along with some slightly smaller green leaves, to form a bud with the blue tips of the petals sticking out the top.

He tapped lightly on the leaves finding them to be surprisingly stiff and almost wooden in strength, "'Dell are you awake?"

Two of the leaves in front of him folded down followed by the white and blue petals, revealing a bleary-eyed Aradelle.

"Hello beautiful," he said copying Ikuno's greeting from yesterday.

"Kal?" she poked her head out of the bud and looked around for a moment, "Just you?

Kal smiled, "Ikuno's still sleeping, I didn't think it was possible, but you wore her out so much I thought I was going to have to carry her part of the way back. I have a feeling she might be a little sore this morning."

"Good, that's a soreness she will enjoy, and she deserves it for everything she has done for me," she said looking down and running her fingers over her belly for a moment. Kal reached up and moved her hand over the small bundle of magic he could feel coming from that area.

Placing his hand over hers he said quietly, "It's still amazing to think that's my child in there."

Aradelle's iridescent eyes shone as she looked at him, "You really can feel her, can't you?"

"I think so," he said, "I can't be for certain but that little ball of magic appeared not long after I filled you up the first time."

She slid her hand out from beneath his, so he was touching her belly then laid her hand over top, "So what brings you here this early? Or were you just coming to say goodbye?"

Sighing, Kal reluctantly removed his hand and produced the ceramic jar, "There was another reason we came to see you but with all that happened, we forgot about it. So, I was wondering if I could just scoop up some," he looked into the bud to see the middle was bone dry, "nectar… Umm…"

Aradelle looked sheepish, "I absorb any extra back into my body. So, you will…" she buried her face in her hands unable to say more.

"Get some straight from the source again?" said Kal grinning.

Aradelle nodded behind her hands, her petite body shaking with embarrassment.

Setting the jar down inside the center of the flower he reached up and pulled her towards him, then pulled her hands away from her face and kissed the shy alarune. On a whim, he brought both of her arms behind her back and held her wrists together with one of his larger hands. Aradelle gasped as he broke the kiss, making his way down, he began to nip and kiss around her neck.

"Are you going to claim me like you did Ikuno?" Aradelle said breathing heavily.

Kal paused, "Yes," Aradelle gasped, "but not yet." She groaned in disappointment, "When you give yourself to me I will happily take you as mine."

"What you said about trust yesterday works both ways, Ikki loves you, and I trust her. I think I could give myself to you now without regret." Aradelle was starting to pant as Kal's free hand ran over her alabaster torso, occasionally brushing across her small blue nipples.

"Give it time 'Dell, you are carrying my child, and Ikuno cares for you very deeply, which means a lot to me. I can say honestly that I already care about you deeply as well, but I want to be able to tell you I love you and mean it the same way I do with Ikuno." Kal kissed his way down to her small breast and took her nipple in his mouth teasing it with his tongue.

Aradelle leaned her head back and gasped at the sensation closing her eyes, "Ikuno is a lucky woman."

Kal kissed his way down to her belly, "Soon enough, you will be too."

Kal searched out one of her vines and wrapped it around her wrists as he removed his hand, he knew it was a token gesture as she could release her arms any time, but she seemed to enjoy the game, getting herself even more worked up.

Nectar was running down her legs in small rivulets but Kal ignored it, placing a hand on each knee he attempted to pry her tightly closed legs apart. Kal quickly checked to see if the vine was still around her wrists. Seeing it hadn't moved, he tried again to open her legs but with much more force. Her legs spread wide, Aradelle began panting harder letting out small high-pitched moans with each breath as her sex was displayed to Kal. She turned her head to the side in embarrassment but her real feelings were betrayed by her rocking hips as she searched for some kind of stimulation.

Kal brought his hands up to her bottom, taking a cheek in each hand he leaned forward and gently flicked the little yellow pearl between her lower lips. Aradelle grunted and her whole body flinched at the touch, at the same time a small flood of nectar came pouring out of her slit. A nagging feeling in the back Kal's mind told him he was forgetting something, but he pushed It away. Completely focused on the alarune he leaned forward and took her swollen clit in his mouth tracing small circles with his tongue. Kal took his time working her up slowly, even stopping every so often if he felt she was getting too close. Aradelle whimpered in need pressing her sex against his mouth as her body shivered with pleasure. Deciding she'd had enough, Kal gripped her behind and sucked her clit into his mouth switching between swirling his tongue around it and flicking it back and forth.

Aradelle's legs clamped down on Kal's head as she came, her back arched with her head thrown back and mouth open but no sound came out. Aradelle released her hands from the vine and brought them forward, tangling them in Kal's hair as her body undulated rubbing her sex up and down Kal's face quickly coating him with her sugary sweet nectar. Kal stoically rode out Aradelle's climax as her body thrashed about in the throes of pleasure. When her body relaxed he quickly adjusted his hold, putting one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, cradling her as she came down. He held her to his chest and kissed her forehead as her breathing returned to normal.

"Spring," said Aradelle once she had recovered, her shining solid blue eyes looking up at him.

"Hm?"

She put a hand on his cheek, "This spring after you and Ikuno have planted our daughter's seed I want you to come back and make me yours."

"I promise 'Dell," he answered and leaned down to kiss her. They stayed like that for a long moment before Aradelle broke the kiss and snuggled into Kal's chest, sighing contentedly.

Kal loved Ikuno but he had to admit there was something primal and satisfying about holding the smaller alarune like this, he felt powerful and protective in a way he never got the chance to with the larger woman. Eventually, Aradelle sighed and glided out of his arms to stand up. Looking out towards the edge of the clearing, she smiled and raised a hand, waving.

"Hi, Ikki!" she yelled, holding up the small ceramic jar with one of her vines, it had been completely filled to the point of overflowing, coating the end of the vine, "Kal said you forgot something!"

Ikuno came stomping over, Kal's and Aradelle's eyes widening at the look on her face.

Clueless as to what to do in the face of a jealous looking oni, Kal stood rooted to the spot.

Ikuno leaned down so their noses were almost touching and growled, "You could have woken me up!"

"What?" said Kal utterly confused, that was not what he expected her to say.

"You could have woken me up! Instead, I showed up too late to join in and had to settle with getting myself off out in the trees while watching you two!" she held up her hand to Kal's face and he could certainly make out the familiar scent of Ikuno's sex on her fingers. "Do you have any idea how much it turns me on to watch the two people I care most about making love?" she glared at him in challenge. "And you are way too easy to tease sometimes, Kal," she said her face splitting into a huge grin at her prank.

"Dammit Ikuno, I thought you were really mad at me!" he said as his body sagged in relief.

"That was mean, Ikki!" Aradelle piped in.

"I am mad at you! You didn't wake me up so I could join in!"

Kal blushed, "Actually, I didn't plan on this when I came out here, I thought I could just scoop some up from what we made yesterday, I didn't know 'Dell would take it all back in overnight." He looked over at Aradelle and smiled, "Not that I'm complaining about how things turned out."

Aradelle gave him a sultry look, "Neither am I."

"Okay you two, cut it out," said Ikuno. She walked over and took the jar from Aradelle's vine, securing a lid on it, "I do need to get home sometime today, and you are expected back at your farm as well." Giving Kal a stern glare, she continued, "Not to mention after watching you two my fingers weren't nearly enough, and I want to get home in time for you to do that to me."

Goodbye hugs and kisses were given, with no shortage of fondling and teasing from Aradelle after Ikuno claimed the tent in Kal's pants for herself, before they walked back to the shack to collect the rest of their belongings and head home.

* * *

Two weeks flew by for Kal and soon enough they were back visiting a very different looking Aradelle, Besides the rounded belly her white skin had turned orangish-yellow while her hair had gone a deep purple and her arms and legs were now fiery red where they used to be blue the only things that remained the same were her iridescent blue eyes and the yellow markings above her slit. Kal thought she looked like a pregnant fire sprite standing in a flower.

Kal and Ikuno were also joined by a very grumpy looking Perra who had insisted on coming along to the birth of Kal's daughter and became even more insistent when they tried to ward her off by telling her that she wouldn't be birthing a baby, but a seed. Looking back Ikuno and Kal both thought they should have instead tried to dissuade her with tales of the trip over the mountains. Much like Kal's first trip, the trek had left the girl sore and with a couple of bumps and bruises from where things had gotten icy further up.

The actual birth was surprisingly anticlimactic for the humans, with Aradelle laying back in a reclining position and calmly announcing "here she comes," moments before a baby-sized, smooth, almond-shaped seed slid out into Kal's waiting arms, Ikuno had insisted he should be the one to 'deliver' his daughter.

Aradelle stood up looking very pleased with herself while Ikuno positively beamed at him.

Kal held the giant seed in his hands that was also his first child and daughter, for the life of him he had no clue what he was supposed to do next.

Perra leaned over his shoulder, "Aww, isn't that sweet, Kal, she has your eyes!"

Kal was at a loss for words as the other three burst out in laughter.

Once Aradelle had regained her composure she asked Kal, "What will you name her?"

"Me?" asked Kal, "Why me? Shouldn't you name her?"

Aradelle leaned over and hugged Kal, "She has a very special opportunity to be one of only a few alarune to ever be named by their father," she said running a hand over the smooth shell.

Kal looked up at Ikuno, "Help?"

Ikuno laughed and raised up her hands in defense, "Nope, 'Auntie Ikki' as 'Dell called me earlier, is staying out of this one."

Kal looked down and tried to imagine a baby alarune with her mother's white and blue markings beneath the hard brown shell.

"Eludora… her name is Eludora," he said.

Aradelle bounced up and down clapping her hands, "Eludora sounds wonderful! I love it!"

They sat and chatted amicably for the next few hours until a change in the sun's light warned them their visit was almost over. Eludora was passed to Perra and Ikuno who both said a couple of words of encouragement. Perra thought it weird until they explained that Aradelle would pass on some of her memories to the new alarune and that she wasn't just talking to a seed. Then she was passed to Kal, not trusting his voice he just held the seed tight to his chest. Kal planted a kiss on the hard shell surrounding his daughter and handed her back to Aradelle.

"You're a good man, Kal." she said and kissed him lightly on the lips, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you in the spring."

"Goodbye, Perra, it was nice to meet you," she said to the girl.

"Same here Aradelle, I look forward to seeing you again," replied Perra with a well-practiced curtsy.

Aradelle then turned to Ikuno and kissed her hard, "I will never be able to thank you enough for all you've done for me, but I'll certainly try when you come back in the spring."

"Sounds good, just stop before my legs turn to jelly next time," Ikuno said grinning.

"No promises," replied Aradelle.

"Goodbye." Aradelle moved to the center of her flower holding Eludora tightly to her chest. Her legs came up and back bowed as she curled protectively around her daughter. Aradelle closed her eyes and sank down into her flower's bulb, her flower petals fell to the ground and the harder outer leaves folded up and over the two forming a protective cocoon for mother and daughter to wait out the cold winter.

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Weeks passed, and pristine white snow blanketed the land. Travel became more difficult and Kal's routine now consisted of chopping firewood, tending to the animals, chopping firewood, checking animal traps, chopping firewood, cleaning and processing furs to sell at market, and chopping firewood. Visits to Ikuno's cave became rarer and Kal took to making overnight trips, much to Ikuno's delight, as the trek seemed to become longer with each new layer of snow. Perra was coming to visit the oni with even less frequency, always sending a hug and a kiss on the cheek for Kal to give the large blue woman.

Kal's mother would look on with bemusement every time he packed his night bag and made ready for his overnight stays. One day she walked in as he was packing one of the runed leather vambraces made with ink from Aradelle's nectar.

"What's that Kal?" she asked.

Kal jumped, having not heard her walk in, "Um… it's something Ikuno gave me," he said quickly stuffing it into his pack.

Kal's mother calmly held out her hand.

With a sigh, Kal produced the leather strip and handed it to his mother.

She ran her hands over the runes, "These look like magic," she stated.

Kal flinched, "Um… they are."

"When am I going to meet your Ikuno, Kal?" she asked, not lifting her eyes from the runes. "I'd like to one day thank the person who saved my life. It's unfair that you haven't brought her to see me yet."

Kal hung his head, "I don't think that would be wise mother. Ikuno has some… attributes, that you may find unsettling."

"That's almost exactly what Perra said when I asked her about your mage friend. I assume they can't be that bad with how much you love her."

Kal tensed, his eyes widening with surprise. He had been incredibly careful to not make mention of his and Ikuno's relationship. Perra had been sworn to secrecy from the day she first arrived.

"Stop it, Kal," she said looking up at him, "Since I became sick my body is weak, but my mind is still sharp, I know perfectly well what it looks like when someone is in love." She handed the vambrace back to Kal, "Is she teaching you how to use these?"

"Yes," he replied, "and other types of magic but using runes is what I'm best at right now."

"The last time I saw any magic was before you were born. Show me please, I would like to see it again."

Kal nodded, holding the piece of leather to his arm he traced a small rune that glowed dimly in the air in front of him. His mother's face lit up as the leather laces on the vambrace came alive and cinched themselves down before tying into a tidy knot.

"Healing, shield," he said, pointing to each rune in turn before pulling another similar strip out of his pack. "This one makes me run as fast as a horse, maybe even faster," Kal indicated another rune on the new piece of leather, "and this one keeps me from ever getting tired, so I could chop firewood all day and night if needed." He groaned inwardly at the thought.

Stuffing the other vambrace back into his pack, He then stepped back from his mother.

"Are you ready?" he asked. "I'm going to need something to heal."

His mother nodded slowly.

Holding out his upturned hand he raised the other one high and sent it slamming down onto the underside of his exposed arm. Kal flinched, he had wanted it to be a good demonstration but that was a bit more painful than he had planned. Grabbing his arm, he sucked in a breath through gritted teeth as the stinging feeling radiated out from the point of impact.

"Kal! What on earth are you doing?" yelled his mother, reaching towards him.

Kal held up a hand, stopping her, then presented his arm where a distinctive angry handprint was beginning to welt up.

"Look," he said drawing her attention to his leather-clad forearm. Reaching out with his magic Kal quickly pierced the clay-like barrier and filled the rune with power making it glow bright white. His mother's eyes widened as the welt quickly shrunk down only leaving the handprint until that too faded, within a few moments the skin of his arm was as pristine and unblemished as before. "It doesn't even hurt anymore," he said.

"That's amazing, Kal!" her astonishment quickly turned to motherly annoyance, "But don't ever do that again. I hate seeing my boy hurt even if it is only for a second," she said taking his arm and running her hands over where the mark had been.

"I would have shown you the shield, but my room is kind of small," he suddenly felt foolish for not taking her outside and showing her that instead, it would have been a lot less painful. "You aren't upset that I'm learning magic? I was worried you might not trust magic-users like most of the people in the village".

"No, not at all. Most of the townsfolk have heard stories about evil and power-hungry mages and have never seen it in real life. My experience with a mage was brief but positive."

"Can you tell me about it?"

She reached up and put a hand on his cheek, a gentle smile playing on her lips. "I may tell you one day, Kal, but we both have our secrets to keep."

Kal, sighed, "Fair enough, but can I ask you something?"

"Certainly."

"While the rune is mostly to heal myself, with some effort I can heal others too. I've noticed that you've been getting weaker, mother."

"You want to try to heal me?" she asked.

Kal nodded.

"I don't suppose it would hurt to try," she said hesitantly.

"Is something wrong?" asked Kal.

His mother seemed nervous, "Just a bit worried. I have a feeling deep down that it may not work."

Kal placed his hand on his mother's shoulder, the healing rune flaring brightly for a moment before settling into a soft glow.

Since their time with Aradelle Ikuno had been very keen on developing Kal's ability to 'see' magic. She had dragged him into the library his next visit and drilled him for hours on how he had known the exact moment of Eludora's conception. She also wanted to know exactly what he had seen, or more appropriately felt, when the magic around him and Ikuno had changed after his somewhat humorous declaration. He explained to her how this 'sight' allowed him to change the shape of the energy he put into his runes, giving him the ability to pierce the barrier and activate the runes quickly and easily. Ikuno believed the clay-like obstruction was a representation of either the leather the runes were printed on or imperfections in the ink.

His newfound ability allowed Kal an amount of control that baffled and amazed the oni. Where spells such as her strength spell affected the entire body equally, Kal could direct the magical energy to specific areas like making his hands strong enough to crush rock without enhancing his strength anywhere else on his body. This became especially useful when using healing magic as he could direct the flow straight to the injury instead of healing the entire area the way Ikuno did. As an added bonus using his runes in this way allowed him to use far less magic than Ikuno to perform the same feat. Though she did take some pleasure in reminding him who had more power when his natural reserves ran out and his runes flickered and died.

The oni was fascinated by all of this and a little bit envious when she discovered that she didn't have the same capacity to manipulate the flows of energy the way he described. Even after trying repeatedly, for her, the magic was either there or it wasn't.

Kal had done the mixing of the new ink and most of the tracing of the runes but it was Ikuno that used a spell from her book on runesmithing to set them into the leather. After she had finished the new vambraces and introduced him to the healing rune, he quickly discovered that the most efficient way to heal someone was to flood the person with healing magic then narrow down the focus as the magic found the injuries it needed to repair.

What he saw as he tried to heal his mother both confused and frightened him.

The healing magic couldn't find anything to fix.

Near as Kal could tell by looking at the flow of magic, she was perfectly healthy. The rune faded out and he let his hand drop lifelessly to his side. Having lowered his head in concentration as he attempted to heal his mother, he found it impossible to look her in the eye after failing.

"Kal? What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm sorry mother, you were right," he said still unable to meet her gaze.

Kal's mother stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her son. "It's okay dear, I didn't really expect it would work."

"Why not?" he asked.

She gave him a light squeeze then let him go. "Sorry Kal, that's one of those secrets I have to keep," she said with a sad smile before turning and walking back out into the living room.

* * *

Kal slipped the leather bracer off his arm and put it into his pack then lifted the leather satchel and threw the strap over his shoulder. As he reached for the handle on the door to his room, he stopped. Setting the pack back down on his bed, Kal sat down next to it. Part of him wanted to run off to see Ikuno and ask her if she knew what was going on with his mother, but he had an inkling that she already knew, even if he didn't know why, and he couldn't face the idea of confirming those fears.

He stood up and went out into the living area. His mother sat in front of the iron stove, with the heavy metal door open to keep her warm as she hummed some nameless tune and mended one of Perra's dresses. A small pile of newer clothes that were queued for winter linings sat next to her chair.

She rarely moved from that spot anymore, only leaving the house to go and get materials with Perra and once back home only getting up to go to bed or use the outhouse, more than once she had needed his or Perra's help getting out there and back since it had started snowing. Kal's mother looked up from her sewing and smiled. He had been so lost in thought he didn't realize he was staring. Flushing in embarrassment he painted a smile in his face that he didn't really feel and made a hasty exit through the front door.

Stopping in the front yard he paused to collect himself; no, he didn't want to go see Ikuno with his mind in chaos, perhaps a short ride on his horse would help him calm down a bit. As he walked to the barn he thought about the meditation exercises that Ikuno had taught him, then dismissed the idea with an unconscious wave of his hand. They would probably help but right now he needed something else, he just couldn't figure out what that was.

Entering the small barn, he walked past the two oxen, giving each an affectionate pat on the head, and on to his newest addition, Bonn. Kal had bought the horse not long after he had gone back to see Ikuno the first time and the gelding had proven to be a huge asset with his mother being unable to make the trips into town on foot anymore. With snow on the ground, Bonn's help made Kal's job of going around and checking his fur traps far quicker and easier, as well as being able to haul more furs and skins to market in a single trip.

Taking the horse's lead he opened the wooden latch on the stable door and brought him out into the main area. Tying the lead to a post he brushed the dust and straw off Bonn's back and flanks before tossing a blanket over his back and placing the saddle. Once he'd cinched everything down Kal grabbed the pommel and put a foot in the stirrup.

"Kal! Kal have you left yet?" Perra yelled walking towards the barn.

"I'm still here!" he called, sighing he vaulted into the saddle, he really just wanted to be alone right now.

Perra rounded the corner and walked into the barn, pausing for a moment as her eyes adjusted from the snow-covered ground to the relative darkness inside, "Thank goodness," she said walking up to him and Bonn, "Mom said you walked out without your bag so you hadn't left for Ikuno's yet, could you take me into town? I need to pick up some things."

"I thought we were pretty well set for supplies. What are we missing?"

"Mostly candles, Mom really likes the new ones the butcher is selling made from beeswax instead of tallow, they smell better and don't leave black stains on the ceiling. While there I thought I would pick up a roast for Mom and me for tonight, something hearty to help keep her spirits up."

He sighed again, instead of answering Kal just held his hand out, helping Perra up onto Bonn's back behind him. Kal made a clicking noise with his tongue and gave a slight tug on the reigns, directing the horse out of the barn and towards the trail going into the village.

With Kal lost in his thoughts, the first part of the journey was quiet. Perra had her arms wrapped around his torso and gave him a little squeeze to get his attention.

"I know you're worried about Mom, Kal."

"She's getting weaker," he felt her nod behind his back, "I tried to heal her before I left, but there was nothing to heal. It scares me. She's wasting away and now I know for sure there is nothing I can do to stop it."

Perra hid her surprise that Kal had revealed he could use magic to his mother. "What about the clerics in the big cities, perhaps they could help her?" she asked

Kal shook his head, "I asked Ikuno about that when she gave me the healing rune. A cleric's healing is no different from mine, the only thing that changes are the sources. We draw our power from the world around us, whereas they receive their power from whatever deity they pray to. They don't need to use crystals, but they can only use the spells their deity dictates. If I can't heal her then no cleric can either."

"Could it be some kinda' disease?"

Kal shook his head again, "When I first met Ikuno, mother had the coughing disease that makes your lungs fill up and drowns you. The apothecary had a magical potion that could cure any kind of disease a person might have, but the price was too steep. I would have ended up working as a slave for the rest of my life to pay off that debt. Mother flat out refused, saying she would rather die than live knowing her boy put himself in chains to save her.

"I heard some adventurers talking about a cave with riches that was just outside my normal hunting grounds. I typically stay to the forest west of here since pickings have always been unusually slim to the east. It made more sense once I met Ikuno and found out hunting east of here meant competing with her. Like a fool went to see if I could steal enough to buy the potion. Ikuno caught me, not that I was a particularly good burglar. I told her what I was doing and as 'punishment' for attempting to steal from her, we had our first time together. As thanks, she gave me enough gold and gems for the potion and then some."

"You tried to steal from her and she gave you money 'As thanks'?" she asked.

"Very few of her partners over the past few decades have been willing."

"Oh." Perra had always been confused as to why moments after saving her from the knight, the oni had yelled at Sir Michael that she would have let him fuck her. Now it made a bit more sense.

"Anyway, when I left Ikuno's I went straight to the apothecary and purchased the potion, with some interesting looks from the other customers mind you. Looking back, I'm surprised no one robbed me, but I was in and out of town as quickly as I could. I ran home and gave the potion to mother." Kal chuckled, "It took me an hour to convince her that I hadn't thumped some travelling noble over the head and stolen their purse and that knights weren't about to come thundering into the farm and carry me off. The potion worked, in just a couple of minutes she had stopped coughing and she felt like the weight in her chest had lifted. In short, mother has already been cured of any diseases she may have had." Kal thought for a moment then shook his head, "Not sure why I felt I needed to tell you all of that."

Perra hugged him from behind, "I don't mind, it's the first time you've told me how you and Ikuno met," a shadow passed over the girl's face, "It sounded far more pleasant than the first time I saw her."

Kal reached back over his shoulder and patted Perra's head, comforting the girl as the memories of her run-in with Sir Michael threatened to well up.

"I'm sorry about that, Perra, but thank you for listening. I think it helped quite a bit."

Smiling she hugged him again and laid her head on his back, "You're welcome."

A few minutes later the trees thinned and the small village of Tilsen came into view. The town wasn't much to look at, little more than a meeting place for local farmers to cross paths with traveling merchants. Over the years a few businesses had come to town such as an inn, general store, blacksmith, apothecary, butcher, and others as demand had grown. Nowadays the small town was no longer growing but had found a comfortable equilibrium that the locals were happy with.

Kal nudged Bonn in the direction of the butcher, the streets were far from busy with most people wanting to stay inside where it was warm. However, the sun was out, and business needed to be taken care of. A few brave souls were venturing out into the streets and town center, which had turned into a lake of mud from melting snow. Kal was once again extremely thankful for having a horse to ride instead of trudging through the mud as he had in the past.

Arriving at the butcher's shop, Kal helped Perra down before dismounting himself, giving Bonn an apologetic pat on the neck for the mud that had splashed up and coated his legs up to the knees. He threw a couple of loops over the hitching post and followed Perra inside.

A few minutes later they walked out with Perra's roast in an oiled leather satchel she had brought along just for this purpose while Kal had a strip of soft leather with the candles rolled up in it under his arm. Kal had carefully dropped the candles in one saddlebag then came around to help Perra slide the roast down into the other.

"Oy! I fuggin' told ya that was me sis!" came a yell from behind them.

Kal and Perra's heads whipped around to see three burly young men in winter travel cloaks walking towards them from the direction of the inn.

Perra froze in fear, her lips trembling, "It's Emrick," she whispered.

Much as Kal wanted to mimic Perra right now, his time with Ikuno had shown him that panicking was rarely useful. Gauging the distance between him and the three thugs, he knew there was no way to get he and Perra on Bonn fast enough to get away. Leaning over he undid the loops on the hitching post. Seeing this, the large men began slogging through the mud faster.

"Da fuck ya think you're goin'?" yelled Perra's brother.

"Me? Nowhere," he yelled back then leaned down and whispered fiercely in Perra's ear, "my bag with the bracers is on my bed, get them and get back here as quickly as you can."

Confusion snapped Perra out of her fear-induced trance, she looked at Kal, "What!?" anything else she may have said was cut off by a screech as Kal lifted her by the hips and dumped her into the saddle.

"Da fuck!" came from behind him and Kal heard the lumbering trio try to run through the mud. Kal put Perra's hand on the pommel then gave Bonn a shove on the neck to turn him, a slap on the horse's rump sent them galloping towards home with another shriek from the young woman. Kal let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Perra grab ahold of the reigns and lean over Bonn's neck. Now he just had to stall long enough for her to get back. As horse and girl tore off towards the farm he turned to face her brother.

A large fist connected with Kal's gut knocking the wind out of him. Meaty hands lifted him by his shirt until he was nose to nose with Perra's brother, "Git 'er back here ya scut! I told Urul, an' Duma here dey could have some fun if'n dey helped me find her. Git her back or dey'r gonna have their fun smashin' yer head in."

Kal coughed a couple of times as he got his breath back, "You really think I'm going to call her back after that? What a loving and caring brother you are," he snarled, "whoring out your sister to whoever can help you step up in life," behind his back he traced a rune in the air, "how'd that work out last time? Did you enjoy your time in the stocks?"

"How da fuck did ya know 'bout dat?" said Perra's brother, then he chuckled, "Don' matter anyway, if'n ya won't bring 'er back den I guess it's time ta bust some heads." Setting Kal down he held the farmer by the shirt as the other hand swung back for a second punch aimed at Kal's stomach.

As Urul and Duma moved forward to grab Kal's arms the rune behind his back flashed and the hoods on their travel cloaks flipped up and over their eyes, Kal brought his other hand up to intercept Emrick's swing. It didn't stop the man's large fist but deadened the blow significantly, the force was still enough to rip Kal's shirt out of Emrick's hand and send him sprawling. Having been prepared for the hit, Kal was back on his feet before the Emrick's thugs had figured out what happened and pulled their hoods back. Kal took the opportunity to look around, everyone who had been out in the streets had conveniently found somewhere else to be, now there was only him and the trio of bullies. Kal sighed, so much for help from the townsfolk.

Perra's brother spun around and looked at the two thugs, "Wot da 'hell! Ya were supposed to grab 'im!" Duma just shrugged in confusion, though his eyes kept flicking behind them as if expecting to see the person who had blinded them with their cloaks. Urul had pulled his hood forward and was inspecting it as though staring at the fabric long enough would reveal the mystery of its strange behavior. Even under such tense circumstances, Kal had to fight to keep from laughing at them.

The brother turned back around, a look of surprise on his face when he saw Kal standing a few paces away. "Ya mus' be stupid or somethin'," he said taking a step forward. "Ya shoulda run when ya had da chance."

Kal mentally kicked himself for not doing just that, outwardly he just shrugged and took a step backwards to maintain the distance between them. "Unfortunately, I can't do that. You see, I work for the lady that saved your sister and killed the bastard knight you gave her to. She put Perra in my care, so her safety is my concern. You may also want to think about the fact that she easily killed Sir Michael and may not take kindly to you beating up and whoring out her servants."

The brother's cronies exchanged a nervous look behind his back. "I don' fuggin believe ya," he said taking another step that was matched by Kal's step backwards, "nobody works fer an ogre, dey only git fucked by 'em or eaten by 'em."

"She's an oni, not an ogre, not that I would expect morons like you to understand the difference," Kal did some quick calculating. With luck, at full gallop Perra should be getting home about now. That left him far more time than he was comfortable with trying to stall. Eventually, their patience was going to run out. A thought came to him. He reached into his pocket and his hand closed around a small stone he had put there earlier as he packed to go see Ikuno.

"Da fuck did you call me?" yelled Perra's brother who, along with Duma, was glaring at him. Urul, strangely enough, was now looking down at his leg. To make matters worse he started raising and lowering his leg while continuing to stare at it.

Kal tilted his head to the side in confusion. This time he couldn't help but start laughing as he realized what the man was doing, which quickly reminded him that he had just gotten punched in the gut a few minutes ago. As Kal fought his battle between laughter and pain Emrick and Duma looked over at their companion.

"Da fuck's ya doin'?"

Urul slowly put his leg down giving them a sheepish look. After a long pause, he said, "Wuz checkin' ta see if I had one of those O-knees."

Kal wheezed as he dropped to his knees in the mud, his arms around his belly and his laughter punctuated by, "ow… oh, that hurts… ow… ow… O-knees!... ouch that hurts…"

"Damn, you is stupid," said Emrick with Duma nodding vigorously behind him.

Perra's brother looked over to see Kal kneeling in the mud trying his best to stop laughing, "Shut da fuck up!" he yelled striding towards Kal, the other two hot on his heels.

Kal held up a hand, "Wait! Wait! Wait!" to his amazement, the trio stopped. Kal collected himself and slowly stood up. "Are you sure you want to take a chance on angering the woman I work for?"

"Already told ya I don' fuggin' believe that shit," Emrick bellowed.

"So be it. Catch!" Kal lobbed the stone at Emrick in a high arc, the idiot actually held out his hands to catch it. As the stone came down and he could see that all three of them were watching it fall he yelled "Luma!" and started running through the mud towards his farm.

Kal knew he had miscalculated when he almost instantly heard, "Get 'im!" and three sets of footsteps slogging through the mud after him. He had been hoping for a reaction like when he first turned on Ikuno's magical lantern, but he had been standing in a dark room then. Out here where the sun was shining the light from the stone wasn't even enough to make Emrick and his thugs flinch.

Just as Kal thought that he might make it to the firmer ground on the other side of the muddy street a hand on his back threw him off balance and sent him sprawling. The same hand then closed on his shirt and dragged him up onto firmer ground.

"Hold 'im," said Emrick and arms much stronger than his own grabbed Kal, holding him in place.

"'Nuff o' yer shit," a heavy fist slammed into Kal's face and he tasted blood in his mouth.

"'Nuff o' yer tricks," another punch to the stomach left him gasping for breath.

"After I git done fuckin' you up I'm gonna go find my sis and me boys are gonna fuck her like da cunt she is." Blows continued to rain down on Kal as Emrick gloated. "Hell, I might fuck da worthless cunt meself jus' fer good measure."

"Drop 'im," Emrick told the other two. Kal was far beyond being able to hold himself up and he dropped to his knees in front of Perra's brother. Blood ran freely from his nose and mouth, the entire left side of his face was swollen to the point he could no longer see out of his left eye, and pain racked his body every time he inhaled. The sudden jolt from hitting the ground turned Kal's stomach and sent his breakfast out onto the ground in front of him.

With a growl, Emrick's boot connected with Kal's gut and the farmer fell to the side with a groan of agony. Barely conscious, he watched as Emrick and his goons congratulated each other and began to make their way in the direction Perra had fled, towards his home. In despair that he couldn't protect Perra and his mother, he laid his head on the ground.

Hoofbeats. Full gallop.

Kal's head popped up causing a wave of dizziness and nausea. Once it had passed he looked around with his good eye but there was no sign of Perra or Bonn. Figuring he was just hallucinating he laid his head back down.

Hoofbeats again, louder, closer.

Kal's lifted his head and looked around again, slower this time. He put his ear to the ground once more and again heard the sound of hooves impacting dirt, but this time when he lifted his head he continued to hear the faint drumming of Bonn racing down the trail from his house.

The trio of ruffians had heard it too and stood defiantly side by side on the trail, blocking the path. Perra and Bonn rounded the last corner on the path and came barreling straight at them. For a moment they thought she was going to stop, until she was close enough for them to see the determined look on her face. Luckily for them, they were at least smart enough to throw themselves clear as she brazenly charged through.

Perra reigned in Bonn next to Kal. Looking down she gasped in horror at his condition. She knew her brother and his thugs were closing in quickly behind her and she didn't have time to waste. Dropping Kal's pack next to him, she spun Bonn around and tried to bolt past the trio back up the trail. The lack of space meant they lacked the speed to keep the horse from balking when the thugs were right in front of him. The three men spread out trapping Perra and Bonn up against a nearby house.

Kal rolled onto his back and drew the same small rune in the air for the third time that day. A simple cantrip that allowed him to levitate and manipulate small or light objects like the laces on his bracers or the hoods on the bully's cloaks. His Leather vambraces floated out of the top of his pack and into his hands, slipping them over each arm he used the cantrip to tie the laces before releasing the spell.

The healing rune lit up and magic swirled around his face and abdomen, within moments Kal started to get vision back in his left eye. Standing up, he walked over to where Emrick and his goons were harassing Perra.

Perra's panic as the three men closed in on her was affecting Bonn and he was getting more and more skittish. The horse was well trained but Perra was little better than a novice rider, if he got any jumpier he was likely to throw her off. When Perra saw Kal walking towards them Bonn calmed almost immediately, reflecting the relief of his rider.

Perra called out, "Don't kill him Kal. He's a piece of shit, but he's still my brother."

All three of the thugs turned to see the farmer they'd just beaten to a bloody pulp walking towards them, shock evident in their features.

The healing rune still glowed shimmering white on Kal's vambrace. As Emrick and his goons watched, the last of the swelling disappeared and the surrounding area quickly went from ugly purple, to yellow, then back to Kal's normal color. "No promises," he said glaring at Emrick.

Perra's brother gawked at him, "How in the bloody hell did ya do that?"

Kal's light blue speed rune and flared to life as a circular magic shield snapped into place above his other arm.

"Fuck you, that's how," Kal raised his shield in front of him and ran straight at Emrick, far faster than the lumbering man could hope to dodge. The impact numbed Kal's shoulder but sent Perra's brother bouncing and skidding across the ground sending up large plumes of snow until he came to rest. Turning quickly Kal did the same to Duma, knocking the man into the muddy street where he nearly slid to the other side, this time pain shot up his arm and he took a moment to heal before dealing with the last one. With the pain gone he looked towards his final target and saw Urul awkwardly trying to run through the mud in the direction of the road back to Emrick's village. Figuring that Urul had probably caused more pain from making Kal laugh than anything else, he let the man keep running.

Perra rode Bonn over next to Kal as he went over to check on Emrick.

"You don't think he's dead, do you?" asked Perra

"I doubt it," replied Kal, "though I don't know why you care, He called you a 'worthless cunt' and was going to give you to his friends to do as they please."

Perra shrugged. "I don't really get it either, it's like I can't help wanting to make sure he's okay. He's also a part of most memories I have of my parents. It's easier to see him as the happy young boy with mom and dad than the asshole he turned into after they died."

"Fair enough," said Kal as the came upon Emrick's unconscious form.

Emrick was mostly buried in snow and Kal reached in and dragged the large man out by his shirt, he was momentarily annoyed that it took all his strength to just drag the man a couple of feet on the snow-covered ground while Emrick had been able to pick Kal up like he was a small child. A groan of protest told Kal and Perra that he had indeed survived.

Kal bent down and fed magic into the healing rune making it glow then pushed the healing magic into Emrick.

"Kal, what are you doing?" Perra asked, confused by his actions.

"I can't get him to swear to leave you alone if he isn't awake," Kal replied. The healing magic filled Emrick completely the same way it had with Kal's mother earlier that day, Kal could see a lot of what appeared to be bruising that was already fading away even with the little bit of power he was using. The largest injuries were the head, right shoulder, and leg. Kal focused the magic into the leg and head, he had seen a dislocated shoulder before and decided to leave it. It would make Emrick less dangerous when he woke up.

Once the leg was done he focused purely on Emrick's head and neck until the magic in the area suddenly became uniform everywhere telling him there was nothing left in the area that needed healing.

Kal stood back up and nudged Emrick with his foot, "Wake up asshole."

Emrick eyes slowly opened, he saw Kal and sat up groaning loudly in pain. He winced when he went to move his dislocated arm, to Kal's surprise, Emrick reached over with his good arm and gave his shoulder a jerk followed by an audible pop as he put his shoulder back in place. The burning hatred for Kal and Perra was evident as he turned to glare at them, "Da fuck ya want ya magic usin' scut."

"Your sister is no longer yours, Emrick. Swear that you will never come after her again, if you see her riding through your town you will pretend you don't know who she is. If you…"

"Shut da fuck up, ya cunt," Emrick sneered, "I'll do whatever I fuggin please wit' me sister. Not that she's worth nuthin' anyway after you an' Sir Michael 'ave wallered out 'er pussy.

"I'm still a virgin," said Perra, drawing confused looks from both men. Perra turned her head away in shame, "Michael was in a hurry and he… missed. Not that I think he cared." She turned back and glared at Emrick, "And Kal is a good man, he won't touch me until I am of age anyway."

Kal glanced at Perra, something about how she phrased that threw him off for a moment. Perra saw the look from Kal and blushed a deep red.

Emrick guffawed, "So 'e stuck ya in de arse did 'e? No wonder ya was bleedin' like a stuck pig. Couldn' believe it when ya came 'ome the next day, thought ya was dead fer sure."

"But you… you took me to the apothecary, so he could heal me. Didn't you?" asked Perra, tears already forming in her eyes, as she guessed what his answer would be.

Emrick laughed again, "Aw fuck no, not a chance in 'ell I'd waste me money on savin' yer arse after ya fucked up an' got Sir Michael killed." He looked at Kal and grinned, "After I beat some sense inta dis dumb cunt I spent da rest o' da night wit' a bar wench bouncing on my cock."

Light shone from the speed rune and Kal's shield sprung into existence, there was a loud crack as the edge of the shield caught Emrick under the chin and sent him skidding backwards. Kal screamed, the shield vanishing as he grabbed his misshapen forearm. The healing rune lit up as he poured power into it, directing the energy toward the bones in his arm. Under the magic's influence, they began to straighten and knit themselves back together.

He reminded himself that he needed Ikuno to add the strength rune to his bracers. Though more complicated than speed or stamina runes, it protected the user from their own enhanced strength, the speed rune was not so forgiving. Sadly, this wasn't the first time Kal had broken something in this manner, however, the last time Ikuno had been there to heal him. Bones took a lot more time and magic to heal than softer tissues, and he was starting to run low.

Perra was looking down with concern. "What happened Kal? Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he said through gritted teeth, "just let my temper get the best of me, but I need the crystal out of my pack, I'm almost out."

Perra nodded and hopped off Bonn before running over to where his pack had dropped. Picking it up she dug through it as she walked back. Pulling out the crystal Ikuno had given Kal she held it up. "Found it! Kal! Look out!" she yelled looking past him.

The speed rune flickered as Kal threw himself backwards, barely avoiding taking out Bonn's legs. Kal's runes flickered and died as he tumbled uncontrollably from his hasty escape. Perra's warning had been just enough for him to see her brother charging at him, Emrick's fist missed the farmer but his charge took him straight into Bonn's front. Startled by the impact Bonn reared up, one hoof coming down on Emrick's collarbone with a loud crack and the other directly on top of his head. Emrick's eyes rolled back as he fell to his knees then flopped over on his side.

Perra quickly dropped the pack and crystal in front of where Kal was getting back to his feet and ran over to Bonn. She carefully calmed the startled horse until she had the chance to grab the reigns and lead him away from her brother. Tying Bonn to a nearby hitching post, she came back to check on her brother. Kal, with crystal in hand, brushed off snow and dirt as the white healing rune went back to work on his arm.

Somehow the bastard was still breathing. Kal walked up behind her, "Your call Perra. I won't lie, if we leave him like this he'll most likely die here."

Only a few minutes ago Emrick had laughed at the idea of leaving her to die, now that the choice was hers, Perra certainly didn't feel like it was a laughing matter. Tears streamed down her cheeks she stood and turned away.

"Let's go home, Kal."

Kal nodded as she walked past him towards Bonn, catching a flicker of light out of the corner of her eye she turned to see Kal kneeling next to her brother, healing rune shining brightly.

"What are you doing Kal?" she said striding back.

"Ikuno told me something once awhile back," he said quietly when she got closer, "she said that if I chose the path of a runesmith then it was very likely that at some point I would have to take another person's life. She told me that for someone like me it would be hard on me that first time and it would be a weight on my soul until I had experienced enough that I would become just a little bit numb." Kal looked up at Perra, "I decided that I couldn't have your brother's death be a weight on your soul."

Kal looked down and the healing rune faded, "His jaw was broken from where I hit him and the collarbone from Bonn. Amazingly, Bonn didn't crack his skull. The bones are bonded together but not fully healed, I'm not feeling that generous. He will be uncomfortable for a while, but he won't die," Kal said as he wrapped Emrick's fur-lined travel cloak around him.

Kal stood up and Perra threw her arms around him, "Thank you, Kal."

Kal put his arms around the girl and held her tight, Perra began to lightly sob as the stress from the day's events caught up with her. After a few minutes, she began to calm down and Kal took the opportunity to see what had happened to Duma. Emrick's thug had decided to follow Urul's example and found somewhere else to be.

Perra let go of Kal and stepped back drying her eyes on her sleeves. Someone nearby cleared their throat, they turned and saw the innkeeper standing nearby.

"Master Ellis," Kal said with a smile, "how can I help you?"

"A thousand pardons for disturbing you, Master Kal," he said bowing low, "I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time."

"Master Kal?" repeated Kal, "I doubt I've done anything to deserve such honor from you. After all, I've worked for you splitting wood in winters past."

"Forgive me, Master Kal, but I don't recall you using magic to split wood or help run off drunken ruffians. Which is why I wanted to speak with you," the innkeeper waved a hand at Emrick's unconscious form, "that particular lout and his two friends beat up my strongman, Bren, when they came into town. Since then they have terrorized me and my girls running up a huge bill and when they paid for a night with one of the girls they hurt her badly. I was going to see if I might be able to get some compensation when you defeated him, but now that I have seen that you can heal people I was hoping you may be able to help my barmaid and Bren."

Kal knelt down and untied the small coin pouch from Emrick's belt then tossed it to Master Ellis. "Once I've healed Bren have him come out here and carry Perra's brother back to the inn, I've healed him enough to keep him from dying I don't wish for my work to be undone by the cold. When he wakes he will be in no shape to fight and you can send him on his way. If he tries to cause any more trouble I doubt he will be much of a challenge for Bren by himself." Kal remembered the inn's strongman from when he worked there, a huge hulk of a man with a quiet demeanor and a soft spot in his heart for the barmaids. Not surprising when you realized that if they didn't have a customer that night it wasn't unusual to see them coming out of Bren's room the next morning. Even with his two friends, Kal had to wonder how Emrick had managed to bring the big man down.

Perra ran back to get Bonn as Master Ellis bounced the pouch in his hand a few times. Nodding, he led the way back to the inn.

Ellis had been kind enough to feed Kal and Perra as well as send some food home for his mother in exchange for the roast Perra had bought earlier. Once fed, Kal healed Bren who immediately went out and fetched the still unconscious Emrick and dumped him into one of the upstairs rooms, the loud crash as Emrick's body hit the bed made Master Ellis look up and mumble in annoyance about having to dock Bren's pay for repairs.

Emrick's thugs had done a number on the poor barmaid. They found her curled up in her bed clutching her belly and her hair matted to her face with sweat from the pain. Ellis told Perra that her name was Kahrin and that they had indeed paid the girl for her services beforehand but had been so rough he was worried they had permanently damaged the girl, or worse that she could die. Kal used the last of his and the crystal's power healing her sex, rear, and throat both inside and out, leaving only a couple bruises that were still sore and purple before the rune flickered and died. Bren scooped Kal up into a bone-cracking hug, a rumble coming from his chest that could have possibly been, "Thank you." Kahrin, on the other hand, had much more intimate ideas of how to show her appreciation. Before he could accept, Perra grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the barmaid's room.

"Me offer 'll be open the nex' time ye come by Master Kal!" Kahrin yelled after them, laughing. Once they were gone she turned to Master Ellis, "I can'na believe that's the wood splitter an' soup stirrer from last year." The innkeeper could only nod in agreement.

* * *

"I can't believe that Master Ellis would let that happen to one of his girls!" Perra huffed as they rode home.

"To be fair, Master Ellis doesn't have a say in that," said Kal.

"Well, he sold her to those goons for the night!"

"Actually no, he didn't."

"What?"

"I worked for him remember? The girl's night-time activities are all up to them, Master Ellis doesn't have anything to do with it. Well, that's not entirely true, he does have Bren there to keep the girls safe in case one of the girl's customers gets too rough and he holds onto their money for the night, so the girls don't need to worry about getting robbed. Unfortunately, since Bren was out of the picture…"

"…Kahrin ended up the way she did," Perra finished for him. "I guess I can't be mad at Master Ellis for that."

Perra laid her head against his back. "I'm sorry, Kal, it wasn't really my place to stop you if you wanted to accept Kahrin's 'thank you'" she said.

Kal chuckled, "It's fine, we didn't really have time anyway. Not that I would have minded ending a day like today in such a pleasant manner. You did surprise me though, I've never seen you get jealous over Ikuno and I."

"Ikuno and 'Dell don't bother me. Ikuno belongs to you and 'Dell will soon, for some reason that makes it okay. But when Kahrin offered I suddenly became angry, like she was trying to steal you away or something. It's dumb, I know," she said laying her head against his back.

Kal reached back and flicked Perra on top of the head.

"Ouch! Dammit! What the hell, Kal!?" yelled Perra.

"You are a very intelligent young woman Perra, expect more of the same if I catch you calling yourself dumb," Kal said sternly.

Perra grumbled as she rubbed the spot Kal had flicked her, the sting fading within a few seconds. Once she finished rubbing her head, she wrapped her arms around Kal once again, a smile playing across her features at Kal's compliment. No one had ever called her 'intelligent' before.

They rode the rest of the way home in companionable silence

* * *

Ikuno lay naked upon her bed, as she often did on days she was expecting Kal to show up. Her cook stove and a little magic were keeping her cave nice and comfortable as she paged through her book on runesmithing, paying close attention to the recipes for permanent inks that would never burn. Though she had read the book before, that had been many, many years ago. Since she wasn't a runesmith little had been of use at the time and therefore promptly forgotten.

Sniffing the air, she sighed. It was too late for Kal to make the trip to her cave. Turning the page, the oni was thinking it was about time to put out the torches and slip under the covers when the entry on salamanders, salamander girls specifically, caught her eye. Giving a small whoop she bounced out of bed and jogged over to the library. Pulling out a map of the area, she tapped a spot that was some ways further east on her mountain range and said, "See you this spring Silma."

* * *

Edited by: oldfart

Twitter: BDraygn

Patraeon: BluDraygn


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Ikuno stood panting in the snowy clearing outside her cave as Kal's tongue ran along her folds. He tried to adjust his erection, which rubbed uncomfortably against his trousers as he teased and nibbled at her lips, gradually making his way toward the top of her sex.

"No touching," she said breathlessly, putting a hand on the back of his head and pressing his face into her.

Kal growled in annoyance, the vibration making her body shudder for a moment. He sucked her clit into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the sensitive nub until the oni gasped and her legs began to shake, flooding his mouth with her fluids as she came.

The oni stepped away and let the leather flap fall, hiding her pussy from him.

"Now-now," she said smiling as her breathing returned to normal, "you agreed to this. Back into your stance."

"I know I agreed to it," Kal grumbled getting back to his feet, "but you made it sound a lot more fun than it really is."

"I'm having a wonderful time," she laughed.

"No surprise there, you've gotten off three times so far and each one has been stronger than the last. While here I am…" Kal gestured at the prominent tent in his trousers. Not only was he erect from having his tongue buried in the blue-skinned woman's sex but Kal's cock kept growing to fit the oni. This left him very little spare room in his pants.

"Count your blessings, Kal, I know quite well how bad it can be to go without for an extended period of time. At least you know you will be going home properly drained."

"You do have a point," he said dropping down into the fighting stance she had taught him, "but trying to concentrate with this monster trying to burst out my trousers is difficult, to say the least." A small wrist cuff with a strength rune flared then settled into a red glow as he activated it, "Ready," he announced.

Ikuno set herself, "That's why it's called incentive."

The oni rushed forward and aimed a kick at Kal's chest which he quickly sidestepped. Lifting an arm, he blocked her fist as it came in high from the right then immediately jerked his head to the side as another came from below aimed at his chin. Grabbing the oni's arm as it whistled past his head, he used it as leverage to swing his leg up and land a kick on Ikuno's side. In response, she swung the arm he'd grasped across her body while bringing her knee toward his stomach. Kal realized his mistake and let go, accepting the hit and angling his body so he would be pushed out instead of up. Her knee sent Kal spinning away from her, pain flaring in his ribs. Hitting the ground rolling, he jumped up and dropped back into his stance as quickly as he could. Breathing deeply, he could tell that the ribs were bruised but not broken.

She charged again, this time crouching and leading in with a leg sweep. As had happened far too often for Kal's liking, he underestimated how long her arms and legs were. He lifted his leg to allow the attack to pass underneath, but her foot caught his trailing leg as well. His entire world turned sideways as he found himself suddenly airborne. Knowing he had a split second to react, he twisted in the air, attempting to fall on his hands and the foot that hadn't been swept from beneath him. Digging his fingers into the dirt as he landed, he kicked off and pulled his body forward, launching himself out of the way of the oni's descending heel.

Kal barely managed to regain his feet before Ikuno stepped in and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks that he just barely managed to block or turn away, making them glancing blows instead of full force hits. The oni spun around aiming a kick directly at his head. Kal brought an arm up to block, but the kick whistled short and he found he didn't have enough time to react to the feint before Ikuno's fist caught him square in the face sending him reeling backwards, windmilling his arms before falling unceremoniously onto his butt in the snow.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit," he muttered as he checked to see if his nose was bleeding, a small streak of red told him that he didn't escape completely unscathed, despite the strength rune's extra protection.

Ikuno was walking towards him brushing the snow and dirt off where Kal had kicked her, summoning a magic circle in her hand, the bruise that had just started to form beneath the debris quickly disappeared.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kal," said the oni as she bent down and healed his nose along with all the smaller bruises he received in their last exchange. "You are improving quite fast, taking a hit and using it to put distance between you and your opponent was a good bit of improvisation along with getting away from my foot coming down on your back."

"A better fighter wouldn't have needed to do either of those," he grumped.

"True, but you've only been doing this for a couple of days, getting good takes time and lots of practice. To be honest, I'm glad you haven't taken to martial arts like some kind of prodigy the way you did with magic," she said pulling him to his feet.

"You don't like how good I am with magic?" asked Kal.

Ikuno smirked, "It's not that I don't like it, it's really quite amazing. It's that your ability is unique. For someone as old and traveled as I am that can be… unsettling… at times. Unique isn't a word I use often. On the other hand, how you are learning to fight is as normal as can be.

"Enough about that," she said giving Kal a predatory grin. "I won again, and I want my prize, but not out here in the snow. Since we are going inside, I'm calling an end to the sparring for today. I figure we can work on forms later before you go. Now that you are using your runes to get back and forth from home, maybe you can get some studying in as well." Ikuno reached down and stroked him through his trousers, "I enjoyed the hell out of your tongue earlier, but right now I need this inside me."

Kal groaned as her fingers traced the outline of his prick, "Then we'd better get moving because if you keep doing that I won't make it that far."

The oni chuckled, releasing him. "Meet you inside," she said, putting a hand behind his head and kissing him hard before jogging back into the cave.

"Ikuno!" he yelled after her, "Wait! I can't see in… the… dark," he trailed off as the oni disappeared into the blackness beyond the cave entrance. "Dammit, I need to get back to town and see if someone picked up my stone," he said to himself, lamenting the loss of his light stone to the mud in the town square. Sighing, he made his way towards the cave.

* * *

Kal felt like he could punch through a mountain with as much power as he was putting into the strength rune on his wrist. Even so, the red glow wasn't doing a fantastic job of illuminating his way through the darkest part of the cave but at least it was keeping him from running into walls. The light from Ikuno's cavern started to brighten the tunnel allowing Kal to cut the flow of power into the rune.

As he walked into the cave his eyes were drawn to blue curves of the oni's body as she bent over her bed, tantalizingly swaying her ass back and forth. He could see her sex glisten in the torchlight, small rivulets of her juices ran down her legs from her pussy and even his human nose couldn't miss the strong scent of her arousal.

As much as he wanted to plow into her, Kal did want a little payback for teasing him outside. Taking his time to undo each of the fasteners, he casually pulled his shirt off and threw it on the stone chair with Ikuno's discarded clothes.

"You bastard," she said looking over her shoulder while her hips continued to swing back and forth, "you're doing that on purpose. Hurry up, I need you."

With an exaggerated sigh, as if it was such a bother to please the woman, he undid his belt and dropped his trousers freeing his enlarged and engorged cock to his lover's appreciative eyes. As he reached for the ties on his wrist cuff Ikuno stopped him.

"Leave it, sometimes I like it when you are stronger than me," she said in a voice thick with lust.

He gave her a questioning look then walked over to the waiting oni, the rune on the cuff lighting up and glowing a slightly brighter red than when they had been sparring. He reached out and swatted her swaying ass, which got a passionate moan followed by a groan of annoyance as he continued walking past her backside. Kal jumped up onto the bed, standing with his prick pointing at the large woman's face. Wrapping her long white hair around one hand he pulled her head forward as the other aimed his cock at her mouth. Ikuno obediently opened up, her tongue playing along the underside as he slowly fed her his prick, when he bumped the back of her throat he looked down.

"Are you sure you like it when I'm stronger?" he asked with a knowing smile.

Instead of answering Ikuno looked up and locked eyes with him, then swallowed the head of his dick. As her lips slid all the way to the base she began working the muscles in her throat and her long tongue slid out and started lapping at Kal's sack. Part of his reason for picking her mouth was she had teased him most of the morning and he knew this first one was going to be quick. Holding tightly to Ikuno's hair he moved her head back and forth, her horns were easier to hold on to, but using her hair like this turned her on more. He only made it a few strokes before he felt his balls tighten up. Kal held the head of his prick just inside her lips as his body clenched and he filled her mouth. She sucked the last few drops out and hummed happily, her eyes once again locked on his as she slowly let his half-hard cock slip from her lips.

Ikuno put her head down and shook her ass back and forth letting Kal know what she wanted next. He was used to her 'savoring' the taste whenever he came in her mouth and didn't expect her to be saying anything until she was done with her treat. Kal hopped off the bed and walked around behind the oni. Taking his half-hard dick in hand he rubbed the head up and down her slit a few times before guiding it into her pussy, Ikuno moaning behind her closed lips as he slowly pushed into her sex. Once buried to the hilt, he held himself in place as Ikuno's pussy squeezed and rippled up and down his length, gradually bringing his cock back to full hardness.

Ikuno gasped as she swallowed the last of his spunk, "Fuck me Kal, I want to feel you fill my pussy," she panted looking back at him.

Kal put his hands on her hips and started thrusting into her, Ikuno letting out little moans each time he speared into her dripping sex. Using his enhanced strength, Kal pushed the oni's hips down, angling himself so he rubbed against the rough spot inside her pussy that drove her wild. Within a few minutes, she clamped down on his cock and her legs shook, her abundant fluids now running down both of their legs.

After coming in Ikuno's mouth Kal still had some time before he was ready. Using his enhanced strength, he lifted the large woman and set her the rest of the way on the bed then flipped her over onto her back before slipping his cock back inside her. Ikuno gave him a sultry look, her face to the tops of her breasts flushed purple with excitement from being manhandled. Taking a leg in each hand he pushed up, tilting her hips back. He was now rubbing against the same rough spot with each thrust, but the head of his cock also dragged along it each time he pulled out as well. The effect on Ikuno was immediate and sent her racing towards another orgasm. The strength rune glowed a little brighter as Kal held her down and continued to fuck her as she came, his hips a blur as he pounded into her dripping pussy mercilessly. A second orgasm crashed into her before she could fully recover from the last one, followed quickly by a third, when the fourth then the fifth one slammed into her Ikuno shrieked and shoved Kal away, sending him flying off the bed and falling onto the furs that covered the rocky floor of her cavern.

Kal jumped to his feet to see Ikuno curled into a quivering ball with both hands between her legs covering her sex protectively, every second or so her entire body would jerk as if she had been shocked.

Kal rushed over to check on her, "Ikuno! Are you…"

"DON'T!" Ikuno bellowed, "touch me," she finished in a shaky but much softer voice.

Kal froze his eyes wide, "What's wrong Ikuno?!"

A smile played across the oni's features, "Still… cumming…" she panted, "sensitive… need a… minute… don't… touch."

Kal stared in awe at Ikuno, he plopped down at the bottom of the bed, Ikuno jerking her feet away from any accidental contact even though they were well out of Kal's reach.

He chuckled as he relaxed, "I'm not sure whether to be worried about you or proud that I put you in this state."

"Fuck you, Kal," she said smiling at him. The aftershocks were coming less frequently, and she wasn't shivering as much, even though she was still holding her hands over her sex, "you'd better damn well feel proud of that, but we may need to put your cuff off to the side except for special occasions."

Kal looked at the strength rune, "Really?"

Ikuno uncurled and rolled onto her back, one hand shielding her clit from being touched, though small movements of her lower lips as she changed positions still sent jolts of pleasure through her body, "Something about you holding me down and not stopping like you usually do when I come." Unable to come up with a good explanation she shook her head, "I don't know what it triggered, but it was amazing," she said with a blissed-out look on her face.

Kal looked down and his penis, it had shrunk and returned to its normal size. "Looks like I'm done for the time being," he said with just a little disappointment in his voice.

Ikuno looked apologetic, "I'll be sure to take care of you before you go home. Maybe we should work on your forms as planned."

Kal sighed, "I guess you're right." Kal stood up and walked over to the stone chair that held Ikuno's clothes.

"Leave them," she said, "I don't think I can wear anything just yet, I'm still pretty sensitive."

Kal looked at where her hand covered her sex, "But your clothes don't even touch you there."

"It's not just there, Kal, I'm sensitive everywhere, as if moving too much might set me off again," Ikuno looked down at the fur covered floor, "Maybe I should wait a while before trying to stand up."

"That sound both amazing and annoying at the same time, I think I might be a little envious," said Kal laughing at her predicament.

"That's an extremely accurate way to put it, and it's all your fault!" she said smiling.

Grinning wide Kal raised his hand, "Guilty!"

* * *

"Back! Center! Left! Center! Knees bent Kal!" Ikuno barked as Kal quick-stepped in the direction she called while maintaining his stance. "Forward! Center! Back heel off the floor! Arms up, elbows in! Left! Center!" Sweat was dripping into Kal's eyes and he glanced over at the leather cuff laying on Ikuno's bed. Ikuno stepped forward and grabbed his wrists, "Pay attention, Kal! You asked me to teach you combat so you wouldn't have to shield bash your way out of your next fight, your magic should enhance your skills in battle, not replace them." She let go of his wrists and stepped back.

Kal looked apologetic, "Sorry, I didn't expect this to be so difficult when I asked you to teach me."

Ikuno glared at him in annoyance, "And I was expecting to do something a lot more fun the day you came charging in yelling, 'Ikuno, I need you to teach me how to fight!' instead of, 'Hi Ikuno! You look like you've been all worked up the last couple of days! Let me take care of you then I want to ask you something!'"

Kal could see she the corners of her mouth twitch as she tried not to smile. Forcing himself to do the same he said through clenched teeth, "You must really like my dick."

She managed to maintain her glare as she leaned in close, "I do."

Kal snorted as he tried to keep a straight face but quickly broke down and burst into laughter, followed a second later by Ikuno.

"In fairness, Kal, I did warn you how horny monster girls are all the time." She dropped into a fighting stance, "Copy me." Ikuno started throwing slow punches in front of her that Kal immediately started to mimic. "Speaking of horny monster girls, I have a couple of trips planned for us this spring after we plant Eludora."

"Okay, I'm interested. What do you have?"

"First we need to visit a harpy that lives west of here and get one of her eggs. Next, there's a salamander that lives to the east beyond the mountain pass who we will need to burn the egg to ash."

Kal's movements stuttered. "Explain please, because that sounds like a horrible thing to do."

Ikuno grinned, "You're getting too used to all this magic stuff. You were more fun when you would panic when I said things like that."

Kal rolled his eyes, "Sorry to disappoint you."

Ikuno switched to practicing low kicks, "As you probably guessed we won't be turning any baby harpies onto ashes. Like 'Dell they only produce chicks when they mate while in season, unlike 'Dell they come into season every couple of months. However, they lay eggs once or twice a week depending on how healthy and how old they are. Since it takes so much energy and resources to make each egg they often eat the unfertilized ones to get some of that back."

"Seems a little weird from a human standpoint, but makes sense, I guess. What if we accidentally took a fertilized one?"

"Can't happen. They know exactly which ones are going to turn into chicks and which can be eaten, even if it isn't their own eggs. They also get extremely protective and have no problems with throwing their own lives away defending their young. The old stories of a harpy swooping down and ripping a man's face off or tearing their throat out, those come from people threatening their eggs or chicks."

"What's so special about their eggs that we need to burn it to dust?"

Ikuno switched back to punches but quicker now. "Like all monster girls, harpies are highly magical. Even though they tend to be exceptionally light for their size and have wings, part of their ability to fly is magic in nature. When they put all that energy and effort into creating an egg inside their body, the egg becomes infused with some of that magic whether it gets fertilized or not. We need the ashes of something with that kind of magical infusion burned by a salamander as part of a more permanent ink."

Kal stopped, "That makes sense, I do have a concern though. If we do the trade that you mentioned to me and Perra, am I going to end up with another kid out of this?"

Ikuno stayed in her stance, "I won't say it's impossible but with luck, she won't be in heat and even if we find out she is, we can try to time things so that doesn't happen. If you continue down this path you will likely have to accept the fact that you may end up with children out there that will only see you on rare occasion."

Kal dropped into his fighting stance, but before Ikuno could restart their training, his face clouded up. He looked up at the oni, "Why am I doing this Ikuno?"

Kal stepped out of his stance followed by Ikuno who was at a loss to answer his question. He walked over and sat on the bed picking up the cuff with the strength rune.

"Why am I doing any of this? I could have done exactly what you told me to; gone home, married Perra, worked the farm and lived a good life. Doing things on the farm take a fraction of my time now that mother knows I'm learning magic. My life could be easy. Yet here I am, learning more magic, learning how to fight, and making plans to travel across the land with the possibility of leaving a trail of children behind me. In search of what? Power? I'm a farmer, I've never desired power. To fight oppression? Our King hardly knows we exist down here in the middle of nowhere, as long as he gets his taxes he couldn't care less about Tilsen. Women? I could spend the rest of my life here with you and be perfectly happy. Money? I've never lusted after money the way some people do, and the bag you gave me when we first met made me the richest man in town, and probably all of the surrounding ones as well. You think I'm destined for some great adventure, and I honestly believe you are right. I feel like I'm being pulled to do something, but I don't know what that is." Kal dropped his head into his hands, "I'm so confused."

Ikuno stood quietly as Kal talked things out, her tiny gasp and smile when he said he would be happy to spend the rest of his life with her went unnoticed. She sat down next to Kal and put an arm around his shoulders pulling him close as he tried to make sense of his troubled thoughts.

"I don't have any answers for you Kal," she said quietly. "But there are some things I can tell you that might help, though you may not agree with me. First, farming is what you do not who you are, that may have been different if you had never come back to my cave, but you are a mage now and will eventually become a runesmith, by my estimation a very powerful one. Second, you didn't realize it at the time, but you were lying when you told me you would give up magic for me." Kal's head snapped up with a hurt look on his face. "Settle down, what I mean is that magic is… addictive, for lack of a better word. You begin with chopping firewood faster, then you wonder if you can get the logs to position themselves on the block, pretty soon you have developed a spell that takes a tree, splits it into fire logs, then dries it and stacks it next to the house all in one spell. With magic, there is always something else to learn, to improve upon, or to achieve. That brings me to the last thing; you also lied about not wanting power."

"Now, wait a second…" Ikuno held up her hand stopping him.

"I don't mean that you want power like the King or the lords and ladies beneath him. With you it's knowledge. As you have gotten better at reading and able understand more of what's in these books," she waved a hand towards her library, "your thirst for knowledge has gotten bigger. In the world of magic-users, knowledge is power. Keep these things in mind as you look for your answers."

Kal laid back on the bed, holding the leather cuff above him he ran his fingers over the intricately detailed rune that he had yet to draw well enough to add to his bracers. "I have to agree with you Ikuno, the more I learn the more I want to know," Kal took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I don't want to admit this, but you are right; I could never go back to being just a farmer with what I know now. I just wish I could see the purpose behind doing all of this."

Ikuno smiled down at him, "Give it time Kal. Keep learning and improving and a purpose will reveal itself." Her smile turned playful and she reached down to run her fingers over the bulge in his trousers, "maybe you'll find that your only purpose is to make a bunch of monster girls deliriously happy by putting this inside them. You've certainly done it for me and 'Dell."

"Stop it, that tickles," he laughed, shooing her hand away before relaxing back on the bed. "So much for a serious moment," he said but there was no heat in his voice.

"Things were getting kind of heavy there," she said apologetically. "Why don't you go study some while I make us something to eat."

"Good idea, I'm still really curious about how protection is layered into the strength rune. I would like to do that with speed as well, and avoid any more broken arms, hopefully." Kal said rubbing the arm he injured in the fight with Emrick. "Thanks for listening to me ramble, you may not have had any answers for me but at least I feel a bit better," he said standing up and giving Ikuno a kiss on the cheek making the oni blush purple. Kal stared at her for a moment, "I don't get you sometimes, we spend hours in bed, you talk like a wanton whore when you're horny, yet you blush when I kiss your cheek."

Ikuno managed to turn a deeper shade of purple. Standing up, she herded him towards the library, "It's a woman thing! Shoo! Go study!"

* * *

Kal carefully painted in the last of his latest attempt at the strength rune. Ikuno had made him the cuff for sparring practice but refused to put it on his vambraces until he could draw it himself flawlessly. They had done the same with the other four runes as well; he put down the ink, then Ikuno, with her better knowledge of magic came behind and set them into the leather. The strength rune, however, continued to elude him. Unlike the other runes, the strength rune was a combination of a basic strength rune and a more advanced protection rune. Ikuno mentioned that it had many of the same characteristics as another protection spell called stone skin but modified to protect the user from shattering bones or turning hands into pulp with their enhanced strength.

Kal traced out a small glowing sigil with his finger on the surface of the table next to the books he was studying from. He activated the rune, then using three fingers he made a motion like he was plucking it from the tabletop and setting it over on the other side of his study material. A transparent magical sheet came into existence behind his hand and fell over the books to protect them. Having a rune explode next to one of the oni's precious magical tomes qualified as a near-death experience, to him at least. Kal never wanted to see Ikuno that mad again.

Kal checked and double checked the rune, comparing it to the one in the book and making absolutely certain that it was an exact copy. Placing his finger on the leather next to the rune, another precaution borne of experience, he began pushing energy into the ink. This was high-quality ink but not magical like that made with Aradelle's nectar, good for testing but would burn out after only a few uses. As the magic filled the rune a small spot in the upper left corner caught Kal's attention, it looked like the fanned-out lightning just before Sir Balthus's crystal had cracked, instead of making a smooth transition to the next glyph. Kal only had a fraction of a second to see this before there was a popping noise and he was suddenly covered in black freckles as the rune failed and sent the ink flying into the air.

Kal groaned and leaned back in the chair closing his eyes, he didn't even flinch as something cold and wet landed on his face.

"Thanks," he mumbled from under the linen before he reached up and wiped the ink off with the washcloth.

"Remember what I said earlier, Kal. Right now, you are thinking like a farmer, try to approach this the way a mage would," said Ikuno.

Kal thought hard for a moment, "I'm not following, Ikuno. How do you mean think like a mage?"

"How could you use magic to draw the runes?"

Kal glanced over the table. Drawing a small rune in the air Kal's paintbrush floated upward. Looking at Ikuno he asked, "Is this what you mean?"

"Close, that would likely help your accuracy since the brush is moved by your will instead of your hand. What if you take away the brush?"

Kal looked down at the brush then at the inkwell, "oh… Oh! I see now!" The paintbrush floated back to where its resting place and a small ball of ink floated out of the inkwell.

"Too much, Kal, a little ink goes a long way," said Ikuno, watching from off to the side.

"Got it." A streamer of ink made its way back into the well until he had only a handful of drops in the ball. Looking carefully at the diagram in the book he began to shape the ink to match the drawing. Once he had made a perfect replica of the rune he took a closer look at the glyph that failed on his last attempt, with the rune still in the air he reached out with a tiny tendril of magic and touched it. As he had seen before his last failure the magical energy did not flow freely to the next symbol, getting bound up within the ink. Kal double checked and made sure that his floating rune was an exact replica before going back to examining the errant glyph. Kal switched to a couple of other symbols that were roughly similar but ended up coming back to the original when none of them were doing better.

"What are you doing Kal?" asked Ikuno watching intently.

"Modifying some of the symbols on this outer ring that holds most of the protection-based glyphs, something isn't working right," he answered without taking his eyes off the rune.

"Still a novice and trying to make improvements?" she teased.

"I may not need to worry about broken fingers anymore, but I am getting sick of being peppered with ink every time I attempt this rune. Besides, there is something wrong here, I'm just trying to fix it. Ikuno can you tell me what this symbol stands for? I can't maintain this and read the book at the same time."

Ikuno studied Kal for a moment then looked carefully at the floating ink, "That represents skin, it keeps your skin from tearing when you are super strong. Wait a minute…" Ikuno held out her hand and the cuff with the strength rune she had made lifted off the bed and floated into it, "Looks like I made the correction without thinking, I used a skin character from another spell when I copied it."

Kal looked at the symbol she had used and shifted the rune in front of him to match, feeding power to it showed that it would work, but the glyph was meant for magic like Ikuno used and the transfer was leaking energy badly without the user's direct will to contain it. Kal switched back to the original once again.

"If I do this here," the symbol changed shape slightly, "that's better but still not good enough…"

Over the next hour, Kal made dozens of tiny changes to the symbols on the outer ring of the rune, occasionally asking Ikuno for clarification on a glyph's particular purpose. At one point she stopped him.

"I understand that you can see the magic flowing through the characters but are you sure you should be making all of these changes?" she asked, "You could end up with a totally different spell or one that blows up in your face. I don't think I need to remind you how new you are to this."

Kal thought for a moment. "Yes I'm absolutely sure. I think the best way to describe what I'm doing is like when I was learning how to write. This is a group of words here: skin, bone, sinew, muscle, organs, heart," he said pointing to their symbols in turn, "the base glyphs stay the same in the ones I change but now it reads more like: skin and bone then muscle and sinew then heart and organs. I'm just making it easier for the power to flow into the next symbol. Now that I say that, runesmith magic works from the inside out, it should be: heart and organs then bone and sinew then muscle and skin," The characters gently glided into their new positions on the rune.

Ikuno's brow furrowed, looking away she summoned one of her magic circles in front of her hand, the same type of strength spell that Kal was currently working on. Studying it closely for a moment she looked at the strength rune on the cuff and whispered, "I'll be damned."

"What is it Ikuno?"

"The order you put those in seemed familiar, look here," like Kal she pointed to each symbol in turn, "Heart, organs, bone, sinew, muscle, skin. The same order as you just put them in." Releasing the spell Ikuno put up her hands in surrender, "you just fixed two problems with this rune that I never even saw," she tossed the cuff back out onto the bed, "so I'll just sit over here and trust you know what you are doing. Just make sure I don't have to reattach any limbs."

Kal cringed, "I'll be sure of that," and dug back into his work.

Hours later he leaned back after laying his 'improved,' yet untested, strength rune onto a piece of parchment. He then grabbed a strip of leather set aside for cuffs like the one he wore earlier and quickly copied the rune onto it. Feeding power into the ink, the strength rune flashed bright red then popped, sending a cloud of fibrous shredded leather high into the air. Kal sat there stunned as small bits of ink-stained hide rained down on his head. Ikuno stepped over to console the poor boy after wasting so many hours of work, she was caught up short when he looked at her.

Beaming with pride he proclaimed, "It worked!"

Glancing at the destroyed strength rune she gave Kal a wary look, "Are you okay Kal? That's not what it's supposed to look like when things 'work,'"

"It did Ikuno! The ink failed, not the rune! The rune worked exactly as it was supposed to!" jumping out of the chair Kal stepped over to one of the bookshelves and picked up Aradelle's ink.

Ikuno put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure about this? We can't make any more of that until spring."

Kal nodded, "My biggest worry is that we may need a stronger ink, if so then I may need to see if there is some way to throttle back how much power the rune can take and how fast it activates."

Ikuno looked incredulous, "You think you can do that?"

"Not sure," he said as he sat down, "but after today I'm willing to give it a try."

Kal quickly made a copy of his modified strength rune with the ink made from Aradelle's nectar, placing his finger next to the rune he began to feed power into it.

The strength rune lit up smoothly and evenly without the normal flare as it activated, pushing more energy into the magical ink the rune became gradually brighter and brighter until it bathed the entire library in a red tint, overpowering the magical lantern on the table. Kal cut the flow of magic and leaned back.

Throwing his hands up in the air he shouted, "Yessss!" Kal jumped out of the chair and wrapped his arms around Ikuno, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't pick the larger woman up. Reaching back, he grabbed the new strength rune and activated it, going back to Ikuno he picked her up and spun her around the middle of the cavern yelling, "It works! It works!"

"Dammit Kal! Put me down!" she laughed.

Kal set Ikuno down as the rune winked out, he walked over to the bed and flopped down on his back, "That feels amazing, part of me can't believe I actually did it."

"So, my young runesmith, you have a new strength rune that works," holding a hand out Ikuno summoned the cuff with her strength rune on it and Kal watched as it wrapped around her wrist and tied itself, "now let's see how well it works."

Kal sat up and gave her a confused look, "Ikuno, your normal strength spell should be far more powerful than that," he said nodding at the cuff.

"True, but my strength spell just 'is,' I can't feed more and more power into it like I can with this," he said indicating the rune, "if your new strength rune is as amazing as you say then we should be able to burn this one out," she said smiling.

"Didn't you mention something earlier about NOT reattaching limbs?" said Kal getting up, "this seems like an effective way to end up doing just that."

"You worry too much," said Ikuno then gave Kal a sly grin, "How about a little wager? If I win then I get to lay on the bed and you do everything to me that I want for the next hour."

"Okay, and if I win?"

"You get to lay on the bed and for the next hour I do everything to you that I want."

Kal nodded, "I'm game... hey! Wait a second!"

"Too late! You agreed!" said Ikuno laughing at the flustered young man.

"Fine," Kal grumbled, "How do you want to do this?"

Ikuno held out a hand with her fingers splayed, "Uncle."

Kal shrugged and put his hand in hers interlocking their fingers. Uncle seemed like a safe choice as there was a lot of leeway if or when one of the runes failed. Even so, he was thankful they both had access to healing spells.

The contest was brief, with Kal then Ikuno stepping up the power going into their respective strength runes. After only a couple of minutes Kal's rune was casting red shadows about the room when a sizzling noise came from Ikuno's cuff. She hissed in pain from the burning rune as Kal pushed her hand back and touched her shoulder. Kal dropped his strength rune to the floor and looked over his shoulder, with a quick motion of his fingers his bracers floated over and into his hand, he turned and took hold of Ikuno's arm as she removed the piece of charred leather. Holding the vambrace, Kal's healing rune glowed bright white and within a minute the burnt skin on Ikuno's wrist looked like it was brand new.

"Thank you, dear," she said kissing him, "It's so cute when you are so worried about me you forget I can heal myself." Kal blushed a bit in embarrassment. "You won, so strip and get into bed, I'll be with you in a moment."

Kal picked up the piece of leather with his strength rune on it. "You don't seem very upset about losing."

"I'm not, as long as 'Dell's ink could handle it I figured you would win with how much magic you were able to pour into yours," she said walking towards the library. Stepping inside she turned and made a motion over the library entrance, a shimmering curtain cascaded to the floor right behind her hand turning jet black as she completed the spell.

Kal began stripping down. From the sound of buckles coming undone from the library, so was Ikuno.

"You've been holding out on me, I've never seen you use that spell before," he called into the darkness once he had climbed into bed and covered up.

Shuffling he couldn't identify came from the library before she answered, "It's not intentional, I'm better with physical and natural magics, I've always struggled with mind magics like illusions or divination, and I've never been able to grasp astral magic. You will have to search out masters of those schools if you want to learn them. The curtain is an illusion and isn't much harder than the minor telekinesis cantrip we always use."

"I'm not sure why, but as long as you've been on this earth, I think I assumed that you knew every kind of magic."

Ikuno barked a laugh followed by a strange jingling noise and a whispered, "Oops, dammit." She answered a moment later, "Sorry to disappoint you but I learned the magics that were easy and that would help keep me safe, one of the drawbacks of being immortal I suppose, there's always time to learn things later. Back when I was young, I used to have the same drive and thirst for knowledge you do; it faded away long ago without the specter of having only so many years on this earth to propel it."

"I'm not disappointed, just surprised I guess. I never really thought about having to learn from someone else."

There was a faint tinkling noise then Ikuno spoke from behind the curtain, "I've been planning this for a while, just waiting for the right moment. I think your breakthrough today qualifies as a good reason to celebrate. Are you ready?" there was a faint tremor in her voice as she finished.

"I am," answered Kal, "Are you okay back there?"

"I learned what I'm about to show you from some desert nomads a very long time ago and it's been more than a century since the last time I've done anything like this. I'm a little nervous." There was another faint noise like many tiny bells ringing as she moved around. A blue hand appeared near the lower corner of the illusion and set a small, very ornate box on the floor. Something was odd about her hand but Kal couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The torches suddenly went out and one of Ikuno's light orbs floated out from the magical darkness into the middle of the cavern. Instead of giving off light in all directions like normal, this one was only shining straight down leaving the rest of the cavern in shadow. Kal peered about the room making out the various shapes of things he was familiar with, until Ikuno walked out into the light. If there had been a giant in the cave it wouldn't have gotten a second glance once Kal saw the cobalt skinned oni.

A small blue pendant hung from Ikuno's horns, held in the middle of her forehead by a delicate golden chain. As Kal looked closer it appeared that she had draped her body in gold. Her necklace was a type of flat interlocking pattern of concentric rings that he had never seen before. Attached to the bottom ring was another delicate chain that ran above and below her breasts, between these hung a piece of gossamer cloth that left nothing to the imagination. Another jewel set in gold that matched the pendant on her forehead covered her belly button. The slightly larger gold chain around her waist had strings of coins hanging from it, the longest hanging partway down her right thigh and getting shorter as they came across to her left hip, behind those was another piece of gossamer fabric like the one over her breasts that followed the edge of the strings of golden coins. Ikuno lifted her arms and crossed her wrists above her head and Kal saw what was different about her hands, she had painted her claws to match the gold adorning the rest of her body.

Ikuno settled into a pose with one leg slightly in front of the other, toes pointed down and heel raised, with the knee of the other leg slightly bent looked down at some random spot on the floor to her taking a deep steadying breath, which did wonders for how all the gold shimmered across her chest, she made a small motion with her hand and Kal caught a flicker of movement out the corner of his eye as the lid to the box opened up.

The slow pounding of drums filled the cavern and Ikuno's hips began to sway in time with the beat, the top half of her body remaining perfectly still. Soon a stringed instrument, which sounded somewhat like the lyres people occasionally played at the inn, joined the drums. The oni brought her hands down and her head up, her eyes continuing to look at the floor. With her hands partially open and her thumb and forefinger touching, she gracefully moved her arms from one pose to another. A haunting sound joined the other instruments coming from the music box, Kal reasoning it must be some type of flute or large whistle. He didn't get to think on it long since when the flute started, Ikuno began to move with the music.

"Whoa," Kal whispered under his breath. Forget the giant in the room, now a rampaging dragon would have a difficult time peeling his eyes from the sight in front of him.

The oni glided about the circle with a grace that didn't seem possible for someone so large, her hips swaying and body undulating sensuously as her arms flowed effortlessly from one position to the next in time with the music. Kal sat on the bed, entranced by the blue-skinned woman, having never seen something so beautiful. His breath quickened, and body reacted as she added the occasional thrust of her hips to her dance, giving him tiny, teasing glimpses of her sex or bottom as the strings of coins lifted for a fleeting moment.

The music's tempo picked up slightly, as did Ikuno's performance. Every motion of her body and hands seemed to accentuate or draw attention to her sexuality, from slow rolls of her hips to quick thrusts of her chest. Ikuno was no longer just looking at the ground as she danced, casting sultry glances at Kal and running her tongue over her lips during her bawdier movements.

The music reached a crescendo and Ikuno stood up on her toes, feet apart, arching her back while thrusting her chest out, arms down with her splayed hands turned forward next to her hips. She closed her eyes and threw her head back, mouth slightly open as if gasping in pleasure.

After a momentary pause, the drums and stringed instrument started into the slower and more relaxed final section of the music. Looking down at the floor Ikuno began moving again, her hips again began to sway with the slower beat as she moved back to the center of her spotlight. Bringing her arms up she crossed her wrists and assumed her starting pose just as the music ended. With another tiny motion of her hand the lid on the music box clicked shut.

Hearing nothing from the bed's occupant she relaxed from her pose. Having been within the spotlight during her performance, and unable to see more than vague shapes outside of it, she had yet to see Kal's face. With her nervousness from before setting in, she motioned at the orb of light to illuminate the entire room. Squinting for a moment as her eyes adjusted, she looked over at her young lover.

Wide-eyed, Kal just stared at Ikuno with a look of wonder, "Wow," he said.

Ikuno arched an eyebrow, "Just 'Wow'?"

"Oh, no no no no. Amazing. Outstanding. Awesome. Stunning. Even all those don't seem good enough. You have a better way with words than I do, think of something far beyond than any of those and that might come close to how mmmph!" Ikuno stepped over to the bed and silenced Kal by putting her lips over his.

Pulling away, she reached behind her back to undo her top, "Time to stop talking."

A thought crossed the oni's mind and her hands stopped before reaching the clasp.

Peeling back the covers she straddled Kal's already hard cock, holding the jingling coins to the side so he could watch as she placed him at the entrance to her pussy and lowered herself with a long moan. With another motion of her hand the light orb floated up above her and the spotlight narrowed so it shone only on her without reaching her lover's face.

At Kal's questioning look she raised her arms up and crossed her wrists, the same as her pose at the beginning of her dance. With a small wave, the lid on the music box flipped open.

Kal laid his head back and groaned as the drums started and Ikuno's hips began to sway back and forth. When the strings joined in she brought her hands down but instead of doing the motions in the dance she held them out for Kal. Smiling he reached up and interlaced his fingers with hers. As the flute's haunting tones began, Ikuno started moving just slightly up and down while continuing the sensuous swaying of her hips. That little bit of extra stimulation was enough to send Kal over the edge, making his hips buck up into Ikuno and filling her with everything he had to give.

Ikuno stopped moving as Kal came, gently squeezing with her inner muscles but not wanting to hurt him when he got sensitive.

As Kal recovered he looked over at the music box then back at Ikuno, "Keep going till it's done?" he asked.

Ikuno smiled and released his hand, reaching behind her. Kal felt the tingle of her recuperation spell on his balls and the base of his cock. Taking his hand in hers again they looked into each other's eyes as her hips started moving.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Months passed, and the frozen temperatures finally released their grip on the land. Patches of snow were still visible in places that remained in shade all day, as well as up on the mountains where the air was colder. Only a handful of conifers were starting to show signs of budding and the forests continued to be bare of leaves except for the occasional evergreen dotted here and there.

The winter came and went with little fanfare, only one bad snowstorm made the two-hour travel to Ikuno's cave impossible for close to a month. When he finally made the trek, the oni attacked Kal like a feral animal upon arrival, shredding his clothes and throwing him on the bed in her haste to get him inside her. Ikuno felt horrible for her actions afterwards, apologizing over and over for her loss of control until Kal began laughing, telling her that if she hadn't already been naked when he got there he would have done something similar to her. Going from getting some action regularly to going almost four weeks without had left them both very pent up.

Prior to the storm, Kal had used the time he was with Ikuno to make improvements on all his runes as well as layer the protection phrase, as Kal had started to call it going along with his writing analogy from before, from the strength rune into the speed rune. Though it turned out to be significantly more complex than he had anticipated:

"Why the hell won't this work! It's like they completely cancel each other out!" Kal put his head down and bumped his forehead against the table a few times, "I've been working on this for hours and it feels like I'm getting nowhere."

After their earlier activities, the oni hadn't bothered putting her clothes back on and was now luxuriating naked on her bed, sipping saké and perusing one of the books from her library as Kal worked. The young mage sat up as Ikuno placed the tiny cup of rice liquor on one of the table next to the bed and walked over to take a look. Stepping up behind him she leaned over, placing her large blue breasts on either side of his head.

Once she had inspected the rune floating in front of them, the oni looked looked down, giving Kal a questioning look. "Of course they don't want to work together, they're opposite affinities," she said finally.

Kal rubbed his head back and forth inside Ikuno's cleavage and brought a hand up to casually play with a nipple. "Much as I'm enjoying this," he looked up at her and smiled, "I couldn't make out a word you just said."

Ikuno chuckled and stood up straight, uncovering his ears and allowing him to hear again. "I was saying, you have two opposing affinities that's why they don't want to work together." The oni went over and picked a book off the bookshelf as Kal collapsed the floating rune, streaming the ink back into its bottle.

As she laid the book in front of him, Kal recognized it as one of the very first Ikuno made him read after agreeing to teach him magic. A few pages from the front was a diagram of two concentric circles with several lines bisecting them.

"These are your main magic affinities," she explained. "It's not very complete, but most other affinities fall somewhere within these circles. As you can see here, Speed has an Air affinity while Protection is Earth affinity." Looking closely Kal could now see that the symbols were very close to the base runes for each of the spells, from there he could also tell that Strength belonged to Fire and healing came from Water. "The illustration shows them directly opposite each other, meaning they try to cancel each other out. Really, you should have remembered and realized this without my help."

Feeling sheepish Kal studied the diagram, having largely overlooked it in his initial excitement about beginning his studies. In the very center lie a geometric figure representing pure magical energy. The innermost ring held four symbols in each of the cardinal directions labeled Sylph, Undine, Gnome, and Salamando for each the four primary elements. On the second ring were Celeste, Sol, and Luna, representing the schools of Divination, Illusion, and Astral Projection. Across from those were Necros, Nox, and Obfuscati, in a very faint script and lacking symbols of their own. Far off in the bottom right corner, the word Entropa appeared in the same light script without a symbol.

"Other than these two," he said pointing at Luna and Necros, "the rest of them make sense."

"Astral Projection has also been called Dreamwalking," said Ikuno pointing to the representation of the moon next to the word 'Luna.' "Honestly, I've never done it, so I'm not sure how accurate that is. As to why it's across from the Necros school; Astral focuses on magic of the spirit without the body, Necros affects the body without a spirit, a corpse."

Kal nodded in understanding then pointed at Undine and Salamando, "If I mix fire and water it creates steam, is there anything that mixes air and earth in a similar way?"

Ikuno was lost in thought for a few moments, "The only thing that comes to mind is a sandstorm."

"What's that?"

"A storm that only happens in dry, sandy areas called deserts, strong winds pick up huge clouds of sand and can carry it from one horizon to the other. Most of the time it's just an annoyance to be waited out if you get caught in one, but if the winds are strong enough it can scour the flesh from your bones."

"So, there is a way that they can come together in nature, now I need to figure out how to do it in the runes," Kal leaned forward and went back to work while Ikuno returned to her bed and saké.

Kahrin was relentless in her pursuit of giving Kal a proper 'thank you' over the winter months, seeming to pop up every time he went into town, much to Perra's annoyance. Despite what she had said after the incident with her brother, she tagged along almost every trip to act as 'protector' for Kal against the tenacious barmaid. Kal soon got the impression that Kahrin was showing up as much to tease Perra as she was pursuing him.

To make matters worse, he was making trips into Telsin far more often than he wanted. Now that the townsfolk knew he was a healer, it seemed like every few days someone asked him to take care of some ache or pain that person or a relative was having. In the beginning, he didn't feel comfortable taking money from the people he healed. However, when he was pulled away from his duties on the farm for the twentieth time that week only to ride all the way to town for an aching elbow or knee, he began to feel like the people of Telsin were taking him for granted. Kal realized he had to do something for the sake of both his sanity and his farm. Asking for a bit of copper for his services resulted in a sharp decline in healing requests.

Ikuno got a good laugh out of his predicament, teasing him about being the savior of Telsin's creaking bones during one of his and Perra's visits. Perra then went on a short rant about Kahrin showing up every time they went to town, hunting down Kal and reiterating her offer.

Perra's eyes almost popped out of her head when Ikuno calmly looked at Kal and said, "The girl feels she owes you a debt, let her pay it so she can move on."

Perra refused to speak to him the entire way home.

His newfound fame did give Kal the opportunity to help when a snow-laden tree came crashing to the ground on the northern road, pinning a young man who worked at the nearby tannery. Having already been in town to take care of a man's aching shoulder, that was more due to his old age than some ailment, he heard the sound of the tree falling but didn't know someone was injured until one of the other workers came banging on the door of the house he was at.

Kal arrived just as they had just gotten an ox in place and were throwing ropes over the tree. Shovels lay nearby from a failed attempt to dig the boy out, unfortunately, it was too late in the winter season and the ground was frozen solid. The next quickest option was to drag the tree off the young man, Kal was immediately concerned their plan would prove as lethal as leaving the tree where it was.

The rescuers looked at the young mage like he was a fool when he told them to undo the ropes. When they refused, he walked over to one that was already tied off and used the strength rune to snap it in half, the farmer inside him cursing at the waste of a good rope, then threatened to break to the rest of them if they didn't listen, large ropes like the one he just destroyed were valuable and hard to make. The tree was quickly freed and the menfolk cleared of the area. With the strength rune shining bright Kal sunk his hands into the wood, lifting the tree off the boy and tossing it down the road like it was a large stick. As the villagers watched in shock, he bent down and began healing the young man's broken ribs and arm. Kal hadn't realized it yet but, with the exception of the innkeeper, that was the first time he had used anything besides his healing rune in front of the townsfolk.

A short time after that, things between Kahrin and Perra finally came to a head. Starting when a rider came galloping into his farm yelling for Kal at the top of his lungs.

"I'm here!" he yelled back as he stepped out of the barn, "what's the problem?"

With a tug on the reins, the messenger pulled up beside Kal, "The midwife has sent for ye, Master Kal, she's sayin' it's urgent, a babe an' mother are both in danger," the man presented a hand to help him up onto the horse.

Kal ignored the offered hand and darted for the house, running inside he went into his bedroom and grabbed his bracers, having not needed them for something as mundane as cleaning out horse and oxen stalls. Perra and his mother both frozen in place when he came bursting through the door and now stared at him wide-eyed as he walked out of the room sliding his arms into the vambraces and quickly drawing the rune to tie them.

"What's wrong Kal?" asked his mother, now standing in front of her chair.

"The midwife sent for me," he said as the laces finished tying, swearing under his breath he looked back into his room as he pulled his gloves back on. "Perra! I need you to dig my crystal out of my pack, get a ride with the man outside and meet me in town." Perra set down the ladle from the soup she had been stirring and ran towards Kal's room just as Kal grabbed his winter cloak and stepped out the door.

The man had pulled his horse around to the front of the house and, like before, was offering his hand.

Once again Kal ignored it, "There's a girl coming out in a few minutes with something I need, give her a ride instead, which house am I needed?"

The messenger withdrew his hand, "Ye've no time ta saddle a horse Master Kal but it's the second behind the inn, me brother'll be out front," he hung his head, "Jus' listen for the screamin'."

Stamina and speed runes shined nearly white as Kal sprinted off in the direction of town, kicking up swirls of loose snow in his wake. He was suddenly more appreciative of the extra traffic to his home keeping the trail packed down.

The rider's jaw hung open as he watched Kal's quickly disappearing figure tear off into the distance faster than a horse, up until he rounded a corner in the trail and was out of sight. Perra ran out of the house and saw the rider's awestruck expression as he looked in the direction Kal had gone. "Hey!" she said tapping his leg, "Are you gonna help me up?"

* * *

Kal let the speed rune go dark as he came into town not wanting to take a chance on accidentally running into anything. He was also thinking about doing something to counteract the extra cold from moving so fast, even with his winter clothes he felt half frozen. Making his way along the firmer ground on the sides of the street he waited until he was directly across from the inn before venturing out into the mud, thankfully the colder weather had frozen the lower layers, but the sun still made crossing the street treacherous on days like today. He swiftly and carefully made his way to the other side before running the rest of the way to the house, his ears telling him that the rider had not been exaggerating.

As Kal approached a man that Kal assumed was the father ran up to him, "Master Kal! Master Kal! Thank goo…" anything else the man said was drowned out by a gut-wrenching scream from inside the small house.

The man opened the door for Kal but made no move to go in himself. Stepping inside the single room house his nose immediately picked up the iron-laden smell of blood. Off to one side, a wrinkled old lady was tending to the woman who had been the source of the scream.

"Boy, I told you to stay outside and keep others out of my way, you needn't be in here to watch this," said the old woman calmly without turning around.

"I believe you sent for me," said Kal setting his cloak and gloves to the side.

She turned her head just enough to peer at him out the corner of her eye, "The healer boy, so I did," turning back to the woman on the bed she continued, "a bit young for a wizard, aren't you? No matter, as long as you can save the girl I'm not for caring if you're still in a swaddling cloth. Now then, get over here and get to work," she said in a dispassionate tone as though the whole situation was commonplace.

Walking over to the woman in the bed, her expression held a hint of relief at seeing him mixed with the excruciating pain she was in. He held his hand on her belly as the healing rune lit up. A warning from one of Ikuno's tomes flashed through his head. The book had stated that healing a woman while pregnant was no issue as the magic treated the baby like just another part of the mother. However, healing a woman during labor "confused the healing magic" as the author had put it, accompanying his statement with horrific drawings of deceased mother and baby accidentally fused together by people doing exactly what he was about to. The healing rune went dark.

"I can't, not yet. The baby and afterbirth have to come out or bad things can happen," Kal figured it would be best if he didn't go into detail.

The woman in the bed wailed in despair at his words while the ancient midwife pushed him off to the side, "Not much bloody good then are ya?" she rested her hands on the laboring woman's belly. "The babe is fadin'."

"How do you…" Kal looked closely at her hands, tiny green tendrils extended from her fingertips down into the woman. "You can use magic," he said.

"I ain't no witch, boy. Don't know nothin' about doing magic, but after so many years being a midwife, I do know mothers and babes."

The woman's belly rippled with a contraction and the laboring woman threw her head back, screaming in agony.

Kal looked at the old woman, "Maybe I can help." Putting his hand next to hers he pushed a tiny bit of magical energy into the woman and used it to flood her body much like he did when healing.

The old woman's eyes widened for a moment as she looked down, "ye might be of some use after all. The babe is turned," she said after a moment. Reaching to her side she grabbed a clean washcloth and rolled it up, "Put that in her mouth, she's grindin' her teeth no sense in breakin' 'em. Now help me an' keep up with whatever yer doin' that lets me see the little one."

The midwife began pushing up and to one side of the woman's belly, while directing Kal to press on the upper side in the opposite direction, after a minute or so of shoving the woman's belly around, Kal felt something shift.

The old lady made her way to the foot of the bed and inspected the anguished woman, "Boy, on the next one lift her up so she can push proper."

"The next what?" but his attention was drawn by the woman in the bed grasping at his hand, though still in extreme pain there was a look of determination on her face now.

A moment later she pulled herself up using Kal and let out another howl of pain, only slightly muffled by the washcloth. Kal quickly switched hands with the woman and adjusted so he could put an arm behind her back.

Twice more he helped the woman push through contractions before the midwife held up the woman's new daughter letting the fluid drain from her lungs. Laying the baby on the bed she tied off the umbilical and cut through it with a quick swipe of a knife.

Dumping the newborn into Kal's arms she opened her mouth to speak but his healing rune was already working to repair the damage from the difficult delivery.

"Don't be too long, the mother needs your attention as well," said the old woman a couple of minutes later, walking past with a pan containing the afterbirth.

Kal could feel he was running low on magic and cursed himself for burning his resources to get here so quickly and not just accepting the ride from the man sent to get him, then again, they may not have lived if he had. He handed the baby back to the old midwife before turning to the woman, who fell unconscious the moment she had given birth. He could tell she was in trouble by the short breaths she was taking, he had seen it many times as an animal he hunted bled out. Laying a hand on her belly he barely got a chance to see where the magic was needed when his healing rune guttered and died.

"Perra!" she should have been there by now.

"Out here Kal! This guy won't let me in!" came Perra's voice from beyond the door.

Kal stomped over to the door and flung it open. Perra tossed him the crystal, catching it he glared at the father, "Idiot," he spat and slammed the door behind him.

Striding over he went back to healing the new mother, after a minute he looked at the old woman who was still checking over the baby, "I don't know if I can save her, magic can heal wounds but can't create new blood to replace what she lost."

"Do what you can, boy. If she lives, she lives. If she dies, she dies."

"That's pretty cold."

She looked up from the baby, "I've watched more women die in my life than you will likely meet in yours. For you and for him," she nodded towards the door, "it may be a terrible thing. For me, it's just another day."

Kal frowned at the woman's callous attitude, "Someone once told me that if I became a mage I would become numb to killing people, I haven't killed anyone yet and never want to. The thought terrifies me already and your lack of caring for her life is not helping."

"I'm not here to help you boy, but I will tell you this, choose carefully," she said, "I've watched many women and little ones die, but so many more would have passed away had I not chosen this path. I've become jaded, yes, but it's the sacrifice I made for the lives I've saved. If down your path you must kill, then choose carefully, each death will make a kind man like you harder, make certain it's worth it. Enough about that, tell the girl outside and the father to go to the inn and get us some fresh linens and some stew, it looks like our new mother will be needing some as well."

Kal looked over and saw that her breathing had slowed some, it still wasn't close to normal and she was very pale, but she at least seemed to be out of immediate danger, looking down at the flows of magic he could see that the healing rune was nearly finished working.

Stepping over to the door he sent Perra and the father on the midwife's errand, sitting down in a chair next to the bed he suddenly realized how exhausted he was. The old lady walked over and began lightly slapping the unconscious woman in the face.

"What the hell?"

"Hush, boy."

The mother gradually opened her eyes and lifted her head, the midwife then undid the buttons on the woman's shirt and placed the swaddled baby at her breast for her first meal. "Every mother should be awake for the first suckling, remember that."

Kal saw the smile the new mother was giving her daughter and looked over at the old crone, "Okay, maybe not so cold."

After bringing the new linens and taking the old ones behind the inn to be washed, Perra and the new father made a second trip to get bowls of stew for the new parents and the midwife. Perra was a bit scandalized by the mother's state of undress until she was forcefully reminded by the woman that Kal had just helped deliver her baby and saved both of their lives as well as being there for her daughter's first meal, there wasn't much sense in being bashful now.

Perra's mood didn't improve when the midwife looked her up and down and said to Kal, "Good child-bearing hips on that one, won't have nearly the troubles of this one here," she waved her spoon in the new mother's direction.

Once everyone was settled and had tucked into their food Kal and Perra excused themselves and made their way over to the inn for their own bite to eat. Kal was ravenous after the day's events, finishing two bowls of the inn's hearty stew before Perra was done with her first.

Like a whirlwind, Kahrin seemed to come out of nowhere and grabbed Kal by the hand, little more than dragging him into the back area where the barmaids' and Bren's rooms were.

"Hey!" Perra yelled jumping up and running after them, as she passed the bar Master Ellis reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

"Leave them be, Lady Perra, she needs this," he said.

Perra jerked her arm out of his grasp with a glare and ran into the back, changing to a determined stomp as she caught up with them in front of Kahrin's room, "Now see here you hussy!"

Kahrin rounded on her, "Nay, ye be seein' here lass," Perra stopped in her tracks from the barmaid's serious expression and tone, "This game 's been fun but it's over now. I'll say me thanks ta yer man 'ere, an' we'll be done with this silliness. I'll stop chasin' him about, but if'n he wants ta share me bed again he's welcome any time he wants."

Perra sputtered, "What makes you think you can…"

"Five generations," said the barmaid in a softer tone, "Five generations o' women with bellies not made fer giving birth but they all tried anyway. Five generations o' women who died in childbirth, me own dam nearly died with me, she wasn't so lucky with me sis. After five generations of lasses growin' up ne'er knowing the love of their mum, my niece will be the first."

Perra rocked back on her heels, stunned by the revelation. She looked at Kal.

"I had an idea they were related once her sister had gotten cleaned up a bit, but didn't know for sure until just now," he said shrugging.

Kahrin stepped forward and put a hand on the younger woman's shoulder, "I'm nay here ta steal yer man, but words aren't nearly enough, and this is the best an' only way I know ta thank him proper fer savin' 'em."

Perra studied the woman's face, then looked at Kal, deep in thought she switched between the two multiple times before speaking, "Master Ellis was right, you need this."

"I do."

Perra's face showed her internal struggle, seeing the look of sincerity on Kahrin's face she came to a decision. Slowly she stepped forward and kissed Kal on the cheek, "I wish I understood why this is so much harder with her than with Ikuno or 'Dell. I'll see you back at home tomorrow."

"So, you're lettin' me borrow 'im for the night?"

Perra nodded slowly.

"Thank you!" Kahrin surprised the young girl as she stepped forward and wrapped Perra in a tight hug, then whispered in her ear, "Thank ye so much, ye mean a lot to him an' I don't think he'd have gone a step further if ye hadn't said okay. Jus' remember, he loves ye lass, yer first time with 'im 'll be far better'n me givin' 'im a tumble as ways o' showin' me appreciation."

Perra was blushing bright red as Kahrin released her, Kal gave her a questioning look, "Are you okay Perra?"

"F..F..Fine, Kal!" she turned and bolted for the front of the inn, calling behind her, "See you at home!"

Kal looked at the barmaid, "What did you say to her?"

Kahrin grinned, "Nothin' much, jus' gave 'er somethin' ta look forward to," she said pulling him into her room.

* * *

The solution to the speed rune continued to elude Kal for the next few weeks, then the snowstorm came and he was unable to work on it with the help of Ikuno's library. During this time he often felt that if he were able to actually see a sandstorm in person it might help, though he wasn't sure exactly how.

Inspiration came to him as he tromped his way to Ikuno's cave for the first time since the storm, the handmade snowshoes strapped to his feet keeping him from sinking into the deep snow. As he walked, a gust of wind picked up some of the loose snowflakes and sent them swirling into the air. Just as quickly as it came the flurry moved on, leaving the snow gently falling back to earth. Kal stopped and watched, imagining the snowflakes as tiny grains of sand. The earth, in this case, sand, had to be small and the air had to be moving in order to support it.

It occurred to him that the protection phrase around the outside wasn't canceling the speed glyph, it was like air trapped in a sealed cave and blocking it. Heartened by this revelation, and eager to test it, he ran to Ikuno's as quickly as the snowshoes would let him. Unfortunately for him, as he got closer to the cave his thoughts became focused on more pleasurable activities. Ikuno pouncing on him and ripping his clothes off made him forget about his epiphany until his next visit, as they spent most of their time 'catching up' after a month apart.

Execution of his idea took longer than he expected and the snow was beginning to melt when he finally managed to get it to work.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ikuno asked staring at the rune in front of Kal. His haste rune, as he was now calling it no longer feeling that 'speed' was a proper description, looked like nothing she had seen before. With the recognizable speed enhancing glyph in the middle, around that was a ring that made it act like their shields that projected the magic above the rune itself, intermixed with those glyphs was the symbol for 'rotate'. Outside of all that was the protection phrase, but it had been broken into smaller parts with only a symbol or two in each division.

Kal set the final rune into a piece of leather for reference then made another one out of Aradelle's ink for testing. Placing his finger on the piece of hide, the haste rune lit up along with a dimly glowing copy floating just above it, but the outer protection phrase remained hazy and transparent. A moment later the inner part began to spin around the central speed glyph, rotating for about a second before making outermost circle glow and sharpen as it powered up. The divisions holding the parts of the outer phrase expanded slightly, splitting apart and mixing their protection into the streams of speed enhancing magic that rushed past. At the same time, the entire floating rune lit up as bright as the original on the leather as the rune fully activated.

The rune winked out as Kal cut the flow of magic. He grinned from ear to ear as he picked up the strip of leather and began wrapping it around his wrist, until Ikuno's large blue hand closed on his forearm, stopping him.

Glaring at Kal she said, "Oh hell no. You are not putting that on until it's been tested."

Kal bit back a sharp retort, quickly realizing she was right. "Fine," he grumbled, "any ideas how to do that?"

A few minutes later, Ikuno and Kal were out in the woods strapping his new speed rune to a hapless rabbit doe they had caught. In front of them was a hastily constructed channel of snow with smooth sides piled up to be taller than Kal.

"I've caught and eaten plenty of these, how come this seems cruel?" Kal said affixing a barely charged crystal under the leather, a channel of ink on the bottom side would bring the magical power from the crystal to the middle of the rune.

"Probably because this is serving no higher purpose other than making sure you don't kill yourself. If it makes you feel better, we can still eat it later," she said holding the rabbit steady while Kal worked.

"Nope, if it survives this, it goes free. It would feel even more cruel to have it live, only for us to turn it into dinner."

Kal stepped back, "Just to be sure, you set the rabbit down, the ward down there activates your enchantment that will dump all of the magic from the crystal into the rune and we hope that it runs towards your illusion of a hole in that tree," he said waving a hand down the channel of snow.

"Pretty much, and if the rabbit pops or burns out it's better than your arm," she said.

"Ugh, I know, but it still seems wrong. Let's do this."

Ikuno put the rabbit down, after a quick pulse of her healing spell the rabbit jumped up and bolted away from them. Human and oni watched intently as the rabbit crossed the ward. The rune flared to life spinning up quickly with the excess energy from the crystal, as the floating rune activated the hare streaked into the illusion with a loud crack that sent a shower of splinters out the backside of the tree. Both of them cringed at the noise.

Kal looked up at Ikuno, "That didn't sound good."

Dispelling the illusion, they saw there was now a very real hole in the tree trunk where the illusion had been. Walking around the tree they heard scrabbling in the snow a few feet beyond.

Kal ran over to the sound, "It's alive!" he yelled.

Ikuno wasn't in as much of a hurry. "It's in one piece," she said, giving the hare an appraising look.

Kal picked up the dazed rabbit and got bit on the thumb for his trouble. Handing it to Ikuno, who was more careful about keeping her fingers away from its teeth, his healing rune came to life and he carefully watched the flows of magic as they sought out injuries.

"Skull is fractured but not split, surprising since it didn't break the skin, nothing deeper in the head though," he said as the magic went to work, "Upper spine was damaged, but it's healed already, so pretty minor there. Its foreleg got beaten up but that will be fixed in a few seconds." Drawing a rune in the air the leather strip untied itself from the rabbit and floated into his hand, the crystal appeared to have fallen out during the test. "I think that could be considered a success," he said grinning at Ikuno.

Ikuno held the flailing and squeaking doe up by its back feet, "Sure you aren't up for dinner?"

"Ikuno! No!"

Ikuno laughed and dropped the hare into the snow where It bounded away from them as fast as it could manage. She watched it hop away for a moment then turned back to Kal, smiling she said, "I wouldn't tease you if you didn't make it so easy!"

Kal and Ikuno stepped off the thin mountain trail onto the old road that would take them to Aradelle. The young mage had made more over winter between selling furs to the tannery and his new position as a healer than he normally did in a year. Keeping in mind his upcoming trek across the mountains to see Aradelle, he had spent some of his newfound wealth on some boots better suited for travel, an investment he was currently extremely pleased with after the aches and pains of his first two ventures across the mountain range.

His other new item was an exquisite black fur-lined winter travel cloak given to him by the tanner as thanks for saving one of his men from the tree earlier that winter. This put him in the awkward position a week later of explaining to the tanner that he was wearing his old winter cloak so the people in town would quit avoiding him. Judging by the villager's reactions, having a wizard and healer in town was okay, having a wizard and healer in a very high-quality and very noticeable black cloak was not.

As they started on the dullest part of the journey to Aradelle's, Kal was about to ask if Ikuno could tell him more about the odd type of magic he had seen the old midwife use when she interrupted his train of thought.

"Tell me about your father, Kal, you don't speak of him much," she said.

Caught off guard by the sudden question Kal took a moment to collect his thoughts before answering. "There really isn't much I can tell you directly, he died when I was very young. Mother said that they met on one of her trips into town, soon after they started arranging times when they could meet. It wasn't long after that he began earnestly courting her." Kal laughed, "Gran was furious, she had spent so much time teaching mother etiquette and how to read, now she was seeing it all go to waste over some farmer boy. She tried everything she could to keep them apart, but my father's parents had passed away some time ago so if he wanted to go off and be with mother there was no one to stop him. Gran forbade mother from going into town to see him but even on a small farm she couldn't have eyes everywhere. When she stopped showing up, he started sneaking over, catching mother out by herself so they could have a few moments together. She said there were a few times Gran broke them up with a rake or hoe in her hand, running my father off into the woods.

"Gramps, on the other hand, could see the eventual outcome and began saving money for the iron stove that's in my house now. I understand it took him almost five years to put together the money for that much iron and traveled all the way to the capital to have it made.

"Gran was unhappy about the whole situation but after a year finally gave in and allowed them to get married. Mother said she was absolutely livid when she found out that Gramps had been going over to father's farm to help out and keep things in shape over that year, accusing him of egging father on instead of giving mother a chance to find a boy in a lord or lady's estate. He saw the time as more of an investment as his daughter would soon be living there. Gramps told mother later that he had other reasons for helping father as well, to make sure his livestock was healthy."

Ikuno gave him a questioning look.

Kal chuckled at her expression, "If Gramps had gone over and seen that he was neglecting his livestock so he could chase after mother, he would have been right alongside Gran in running him off. Instead, when he got there all the animals and fields were taken care of, telling Gramps that he was working extra hard to make the time to be with mother.

"Once they were married it was four long years of waiting and worrying that either father's seed was weak, or mother was barren before I came along."

Ikuno's sharp look and wide eyes went unnoticed by Kal as he was too engrossed in his tale.

Kal's tone became somber, "He died not long after my third birthday, him, Gran, and Gramps were all killed by a werewolf, not a wolf girl, mind you, but a true werewolf. They had gotten word of attacks from towns to the west and that it was coming towards us but there was little a small town like Telsin could do to stop such a beast with no knights or even a town guard. Gramps had hurt himself out working, so my father took the mule we had at the time to bring them some supplies from town and help out a bit as he healed. Father had planned on coming back the next day, unfortunately, Gran and Gramp's farm was next in the werewolf's path. It attacked that night.

"Another farmer had heard the werewolf's howling coming from the direction of my grandparent's farm and put together a posse in town to investigate. I asked one of the men from town who was in the posse to tell me what happened since mother wouldn't. He told me that all three had been ripped limb from limb and partially eaten, the mule and livestock had their ribcages split like opening a wardrobe and their hearts, livers, and brains eaten by the monster," Kal shivered a bit at the memory of the terror in the man's eyes as he had described the scene. He left out that the man had been so reluctant that Kal had to pay the man to even tell him. "Thankfully we never heard about the werewolf again, many assumed it had turned north after attacking my family."

After a brief pause to collect his thoughts he continued, "Mother sold Gran and Gramp's farm and used the money to hire some hands to help out and teach her the things she didn't know about farming since Gran had insisted her education be elsewhere. Mother never remarried, saying that father had been her soulmate and it didn't feel right to take another man. Not that she didn't have offers, I remember her running one man off with a pitchfork who didn't want to take no for an answer. That continued until I was old enough to take over and the extra help was no longer needed. About the time I came of age was when she started getting weaker, when she got truly ill was when I met you."

Ikuno didn't reply, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Hellooo," Kal said waving his hand in front of her, "all that and nothing to say?"

"Sorry Kal," Ikuno said glancing over at him, "You've given me a lot to think about." Seeing the question his eyes she hurried on, "Though I do have some good news, obviously I didn't know this at the time, but I avenged your father and grandparents."

Kal's eyes went wide, "Really!?"

"Yes. Really. Near as I could tell they were correct in the werewolf turning north but when it ran into the mountains it started back east again, which brought it right to my home. I was outside to meet it since it tripped my wards, but I didn't know what it was and was unprepared for a creature so powerful. Werewolves are insanely strong, especially around and during a full moon, our fight is the reason I have that clearing in front of my cave, between us we felled every tree that used to be there."

"Bloody hell," said Kal.

"Bloody is right, as I said, I was unprepared, magic blasts didn't faze it and it was too fast for the blades to hit, even after casting a strength spell on myself it still overpowered me. Luckily because of my nature, I'm immune to lycanthropy. Though it's bite took forever to heal and made me very sick for about a week."

Kal mulled over the unfamiliar word 'lycanthropy' for a moment before asking, "If it overpowered you how did you kill it?"

"With my last resort," Ikuno held out her hand as if grasping something, a rod of light extended out and a type of magic he hadn't seen before began swirling around the rod. The magic swirled faster until an iron club, longer than he was tall, appeared in her hand with a flash. Above the handle, the club had six flat sides, each one sporting a row of steel spikes that ran all the way up to the end, getting larger as the club got wider, and topped with a hexagonal steel endcap. Even knowing how strong Ikuno was, he could hardly believe she could hold it one-handed. "It's a part of an oni's nature and it makes us extremely strong, but it has one large drawback," Ikuno held out her other hand like she was going to cast a spell, but nothing happened, "it absorbs magic. Granted, the times I've fought wizards it's irreplaceable, but those battles were few and far between."

"It's a fantastic weapon" she said pulling her arm back and throwing it at incredible speed down the empty trail, in the distance Kal saw a flash and a few seconds later the swirling magic made it appear in Ikuno's hand again, "it's just far more than what I normally need." Ikuno laid the iron club across her shoulders making Kal wince until he saw that the spikes sunk into the club anywhere they touched her skin. A smile crept across the oni's face, "It's been awhile, that feels nice. To finish my story, I had to use this to beat the werewolf down, and into a few pieces. After that I packed up all of his parts and he eventually met the same fate as Sir Michael, digestive juices play hell with regenerators, I think that werewolf kept her fed for nearly two years."

"Serves him right, the bastard," said Kal with a satisfied grin, "I know you didn't do it for them but, thank you, and I'm certain that mother will appreciate the news as well."

"Hey, Kal," she said giving him a sly grin. Holding her hand out with fingers splayed she asked him, "Wanna try another game of Uncle?"

Kal looked down at his strength rune then up at Ikuno's club, meeting her gaze he calmly said, "Nope."

* * *

Kal, Ikuno, and Aradelle didn't get the joyous reunion as they had all been hoping for. Kal and Ikuno had planned on surprising Aradelle and were approaching from the direction of the shack, which was also downwind, so Aradelle wouldn't pick up their scents. Ikuno had mentioned that since she was with him it wouldn't trip the ward she had made to alert Aradelle of potential mates. As an added precaution Ikuno summoned an illusion for them to hide behind, the poor quality of the image getting a laugh and a comment about sticking to black curtains from Kal with Ikuno then reminding him that she never claimed to be good at illusions. The added steps turned out to be little use, as they came close to the alarune's clearing the wind carried sounds of an argument to Kal and Ikuno's ears. They crept forward the rest of the way, moving quietly until they could see Aradelle and her visitor.

"I told you I can't!" said Aradelle plaintively.

The woman with Aradelle looked to be dressed in a shimmering burgundy sleeveless robe with strips of gold along the edges and blue ovals about a hands-width apart surrounded by areas of jet black just inside the trim. The two antennae sprouting from her forehead as well as the orange iridescent compound eyes combined with the blackish-brown armor-like coating over her lower legs and arms marked her as a monster girl. Kal was quick to notice the difference between Aradelle's eyes and the mystery woman, Aradelle's had a similar iridescent sheen to them but were one solid color with none of an eye's normal features while the other woman had clearly recognizable facets and something in how her eyes worked created a moving dot that gave the impression of a pupil.

"Come on 'Dell why are you being like this? I just woke up and I'm starving! Just open up those legs and I'll get those juices flowing, then I can get a nice long drink and leave you alone," said the woman.

"You don't understand," said Aradelle sounding like she was about in tears, "I really can't! I have a seed and I won't produce any more nectar until Kal and Ikuno come to…"

The woman threw her hands up in the air, "Ikuno! Ikuno! Ikki! Ikki! Ikki! It's all I ever hear about from you for the past few years! I'm the one who comes and visits you all the damn time yet all you ever talk about is fucking Ikuno!" she snarled at Aradelle.

Ikuno tapped Kal's shoulder getting his attention then whispered in his ear as the woman was speaking, "Many monster girls have something similar to Aradelle's dust for snaring mates. Butterflies also have a dust that if you breathe it in you will go lust crazy. If you fight it," she said tapping his head, "your protections from your enchantment won't kick in, understand?"

Kal nodded.

Ikuno shook her head. "Probably not," she said with a concerned look on her face before motioning towards Aradelle. They both stood up and Ikuno dropped her illusion as they stepped out into the alarune's area.

"Well maybe if you treated me like something besides…" Aradelle snapped, stopping as she heard a rustling behind her. Aradelle turned around to see Kal and Ikuno step out of the bare shrubs surrounding her clearing. Her face lit up on seeing them, "Kal! Ikuno! You made it!" she said bouncing around in her flower happily and momentarily forgetting about the robed woman.

"That's Ikuno!?" said the woman, "This blue ogre is the wonderous Ikuno? What the hell, Aradelle! She doesn't even need your nectar! You're lucky she doesn't just eat you."

Aradelle spun around hands balled into fists at her sides in anger, "That's right! I'm not just food to her! She comes to see me because she loves me and cares about me not just because she wants my nectar!"

With a grin, Ikuno glanced over at Aradelle as she and Kal stepped up to stand beside the alarune, "To be fair the last time we were here we did collect some of your nectar, though I think Kal did most of the eating that time."

The woman quivered with rage as she glared at the alarune, "You can't spare me a drop to eat after sleeping all winter, yet you blush like a lovestruck teenager as soon as she speaks?!"

Kal peered around Ikuno, who was standing between him and Aradelle. He looked first at Aradelle's face then up at Ikuno, "She's blushing?"

The robed woman gasped, not having paid the slightest attention to the ogre's cloaked companion until he spoke and revealed himself as a human male. Kal watched in surprise as her robe unwrapped itself from around her revealing it too actually a set of shimmering butterfly wings, though the inside of the wings looked like… tree bark? Her unveiled body was covered in a full corset made of the same black-brown chitin, which suddenly split in two down the middle and moved to either side on small insect-like arms, beneath was an impressive pair of breasts on a voluptuous human torso. Her wings shivered, shaking loose a cloud of glittering silver dust.

"Bea! No!" Aradelle yelled.

Kal glanced at Aradelle, "Bee? She's not a bee she's a butter…" Kal suddenly found himself choking as Bea pumped her wings, sending the cloud of dust straight at Kal and lifting herself into the air only to land further back, next to the edge of the clearing.

"Kal!" screamed Aradelle moving towards him but Ikuno put an arm out holding her back.

"Remember your enchantment and it's protections Kal, remember what happened with Aradelle," Ikuno whispered fiercely in his ear before looking at Aradelle who was glaring at the traitorous oni. "Better this happen now when we are here to protect him so he can learn to overcome it."

Kal took a deep gasping breath, the aphrodisiac took effect knocking control away from his conscious mind, making him feel like he was watching through a window at things that were happening to someone else.

His cock became painfully hard in a few seconds and he watched as his hands undid his belt and pulled down his trousers with maniacal haste. Looking to his side were six holes he could put his cock into, but they weren't what he wanted. Over there by the clearing edge, that was the cunt his cock needed. Kal's conscious mind railed against the thoughts running through his head, knowing they weren't his but unable to stop them any more than he could stop his body from making a breakneck run at the butterfly girl.

Bea had bent over away from him with her hands on a small tree, Kal came to a skidding halt behind her, grabbing her hips and beginning to thrust, the thought 'cock in hole, cock in hole, must get cock in hole' running through his head completely unbidden. After a couple of misses that bent his cock at angles that made Kal's conscious mind wince, he was going to pay for those later, he finally plunged full force into the butterfly girl, hilting himself in one stroke. The butterfly girl's shriek as he filled her was one of pure ecstasy while Kal's mind was busy being thankful for the woman's copious lubrication as it was the only thing keeping that from being very painful for both of them.

Kal immediately began pounding into the woman pulling her hips back into him, each thrust making loud slaps of flesh on flesh as they came together. After only a couple dozen strokes he buried himself inside Bea's pussy and let loose, cumming far more than usual as he emptied his balls inside her. Before his orgasm had the opportunity to subside he was already moving his hips again. Bea had her face pressed against the tree, her long thin tongue lolling out and eyes rolled up into her head with an ecstatic smile on her face.

"Dammit Kal! Quit fighting it and fuck her!" Ikuno called out from behind him.

"What the hell do you think he's doing Ikuno?" Aradelle snapped at her.

"He's fighting it," she said to the alarune, "the enchantment works on intent. He never had any desire to have sex with her, it's all the aphrodisiac making him do this, so the enchantment's protections aren't activating like they did with you."

Kal's inner mind heard the conversation behind him but wasn't sure exactly what to do about it. Focusing, he blocked out the stream of thoughts generated by the aphrodisiac and concentrated on the woman in front of him trying hard to look beyond his extreme annoyance and find the desire to actually want to have sex with her. Seeing her mouth hanging open in pleasure gave him the opening he needed.

The fog lifted from his mind, though his hips kept moving. Reaching up he grabbed a handful of her hair, as his hand closed Bea noticed the change and snapped out of her pleasure haze.

She lifted her head and tried to look back, "What the?"

Kal pulled out and pulled her off to the side away from the tree, quickly spinning her around by her hair and forcing her to her knees, "You wanted something to drink?" he growled at her as she looked up in fear, "drink this," he said pointing his cock at her mouth. Like Aradelle, Bea was unsure of what to do when a man wasn't under the influence of her dust, which scared her at first. She relaxed when he just wanted her to suck him off, that she could handle.

Or so she thought, as she opened her mouth to take him in she failed to notice one important piece of information.

Kal was not happy.

Kal thrust into Bea's mouth making her gag repeatedly, he wasn't forceful enough to hurt the girl but he wanted her to understand just how upset he was after what she did to him. Despite his rough treatment, the butterfly girl found a hand drifting down toward her sex. This man was demanding, uncaring, and mildly terrifying compared to the hard, pounding, single-minded fucks caused by her dust, to her surprise she found the differences very exciting.

Kal thrust his cock between her lips and held himself there as his balls drew up and he unloaded into her mouth with a yell. To his surprise, her cheeks bulged out and some even dripped out from around her lips despite her frantic attempts to swallow it all.

Kal felt a large hand come down on his shoulder, "That's enough Kal, I think she's done," said Ikuno.

"I think you're right," he said, "but I'm not."

Kal bent over, reaching down once she was done swallowing, and lifted Bea's chin so they were eye to eye, the aroused look on her face quickly faded, "My women are kind enough to not mind who I stick my dick inside or we would have some serious problems. I'm giving you a pass because I understand what you did is part of your nature. But," his voice dropped to a growl, "if you see me again and want some action you fucking ask, because if you use try using your dust on me again…" His strength rune glowed bright red as he made a fist then turned and put his hand through the small tree she had just been leaning against, sending it toppling away from them. "Get out of here," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Kal glared at her the entire time Bea picked herself up and with a quick jog jumped into the air flapping her wings hard to take her away from the insanely strong human. She tried hard to ignore the full feeling in both her belly and pussy from his cum. Harder to ignore were the fluids mixing with his cum as it dripped down her legs from his display of strength. The man, she remembered 'Dell and Ikuno calling him 'Kal', had shaken off her lust frenzy and punched through a tree barehanded. As she flew away she already knew when her mating season came later this spring she would be seeking him out. There was no question about one thing, next time she would ask, even if she ignored the blue-skinned ogre he had as a companion, she did not want to piss him off.

Kal took a steadying breath as he watched Bea fly away, shaking his head he turned and walked past Ikuno to go pick up his pants that were lying next to Aradelle. The alarune had a look of sadness on her face as she watched Kal, he could tell that she wanted to reach out and embrace him as he got closer but figured that her lack of experience with males kept her rooted from uncertainty.

"I'm sorry, Kal," Ikuno called out from behind him, sounding truly contrite. She hadn't moved from the edge of the clearing where she put her hand on his shoulder.

"No, you aren't, Ikuno," Kal replied , raising his voice so she could hear as he picked up his trousers, "I know why you let this happen, and I understand it had to happen so I know how to deal with similar situations in the future. Since you've taken it upon yourself to teach me about the outside world, you really have nothing to be sorry for." Looking at his trousers then down at his still hard prick, he threw the pants to the side in disgust, "What is up with these aphrodisiacs making a guy hard for ages after he cums?"

Ikuno chuckled as she walked over to him. "Fine then, I'm not sorry for letting her do that to you, but I am sorry you didn't get to enjoy yourself."

Aradelle leaned over the side of her base to see that Kal's cock was indeed still standing proudly, "Unfortunately I was telling Bea the truth, I won't produce any nectar until you and Ikuno plant Eludora. Honestly, I don't know if my nectar would help clear the effects of her dust even if I could."

Kal pulled Aradelle close for a hug that she excitedly returned, "Don't worry about it 'Dell I'll manage until it goes away."

Ikuno looked down at him smiling, "I have three ways to take care of you and 'Dell has one, I think we can do better than 'manage'," she said but Aradelle was shaking her head.

Aradelle opened her mouth and ran her finger across her tongue showing it to Kal and Ikuno. "Even my mouth is dry, sorry I can't help," she said looking apologetic.

Kal scrunched up his face and smacked his lips together imagining going days with a completely dry mouth, "That sounds awful, though it does explain why your kisses are so sweet." Aradelle sighed and gave him a doe-eyed look, he decided not to correct her that he was just commenting on the taste. "Why do you stop making nectar anyway?"

"It's a trade-off with girls like Bea," she explained, "You take my seed and plant it, then you can feed from me."

"'Feed from you,' it sounds odd when you say it like that."

Aradelle looked embarrassed, "Well it's not like I don't enjoy what they do to get it."

Kal peered closely at Aradelle's face, "You're blushing again, aren't you?"

Aradelle let out a cute squeak and hid her face behind her hands, Ikuno answered for her, "Yes she is we just can't see it, however, butterfly and bee girls can."

"How does that work?" Kal asked but before anyone could answer he grunted in pain and reached down below his still hard prick to cradle his sack, which was about three times larger than normal. "Holy hell, they're huge," he said wincing and activating his healing rune, that only delayed the pain since it came back as soon as he stopped.

Ikuno lifted him up by the hips and placed him inside Aradelle's flower, "'Dell, did you get a chance to taste Kal while you two were double-teaming me last time? If not, you will now," she said then leaned over and engulfed Kal's cock, she began bobbing her head back and forth trying to quickly get him off and release the pressure in his scrotum.

Aradelle watched for a few seconds, her tongue tracing around her lips and breathing heavy as Kal's oni-sized cock disappeared repeatedly into Ikuno's mouth, she reached down to touch herself and the dryness reminded her she didn't have any nectar yet for lubrication.

"Ikuno!" she hissed in a whisper, "I can't do that remember? No nectar!"

Ikuno pulled off Kal's cock with a pop and said, "I suck, you drink," before burying her nose in Kal's pubes and working his head with her throat while at the same time positioning Aradelle's face next to hers.

"Ah fuck!" Kal yelled in warning just before he came. Ikuno pulled off and pointed his prick at Aradelle's open mouth, in a flash of inspiration she aimed a little higher and the first long spurt covered most of Aradelle's face in white spunk, the second filled her mouth to nearly overflowing. Ikuno was shocked at how much Kal was producing, she leaned Aradelle back and pointed his cock lower coating the alarune's small breasts then even lower still to completely coat her sex and inner thighs with another copious spurt. Kal's last few shots went straight into Ikuno's belly as she deepthroated him once again.

Kal gasped and drew a deep lungful of air as his orgasm subsided, opening his eyes he stared in shock at Aradelle's state. The alarune was still leaned back in the position Ikuno had placed her and she appeared to be shivering with excitement. Aradelle's hands came up and began massaging his cream into her breasts, her entire body jerking each time she brushed across her nipples. He could see her tongue moving about in her cum filled mouth appearing to enjoy the taste just as much as Ikuno. Every so often she would take a deep breath in through her nose, each time she did her body would shake as though she climaxed.

"Damn," Kal whispered in awe, "I did that?" he asked Ikuno, but the oni wasn't listening.

Instead she was moving as if entranced towards Aradelle's coated thighs and sex, starting at her thighs Ikuno carefully removed every trace of Kal's seed around the alarune's sex with her tongue. Moving down and spreading Aradelle's cheeks she teased the alarune's rear pucker with her tongue, collecting the bit of Kal's cum that had slid down there and making the plant girl squeal. As Ikuno brought her tongue back up and began teasing and cleaning the lips of Aradelle's sex the alarune started breathing harder and harder until she was forced to swallow what remained in her mouth and pant in earnest from the pleasure.

Ikuno latched on to Aradelle's clit the same time the alarune drew in one of those long breaths through her nose, the plant girl laid her head back let out a high-pitched shriek while her hands roughly pinched and pulled her small blue nipples. The alarune passed out as her orgasm finished washing over her, Ikuno didn't miss a beat and caught the insensate girl, adjusting quickly so she could begin cleaning Aradelle's chest and nipples with her tongue.

"Hey, Ikuno?" Kal said sitting down, "it looks like we aren't done yet."

Ikuno looked over and Kal motioned at his still hard cock, instead of answering Ikuno gave him a smile and went back to her task. Cradling the still unconscious Aradelle in one arm, with the other hand she undid the belt holding on her bottom furs, letting them drop to the ground. The oni knelt down next to Aradelle's bulb and leaned forward, with the same hand she grabbed the bottom of her asscheeks and pulled it to the side, silently offering Kal his choice of what to fill up next.

Kal hopped out of Aradelle's flower and sank into Ikuno's pussy, getting well lubed before pulling out and pointing at her backdoor. As his cock slowly slid through the tight ring of her anus, Kal was thinking this might be a long but fun ride.

* * *

Kal was thinking 'fun' may not have been his best choice of words as he and Ikuno exhaustedly fell into their bed in the small shack. The oni had thoroughly enjoyed herself between licking Aradelle clean of his cum, and getting her ass not only well fucked but filled to the point she looked like she was about six months pregnant by human standards.

Twice he had cum inside Ikuno's rear before she cleaned him up and sucked him off again before painting Aradelle a second time. He even got the head of his dick inside the alarune's pussy using his own cum as lube but was unwilling to do more for fear of hurting her, content with making small movements as his balls refilled and Ikuno gave Aradelle's clit a thorough tongue lashing. The final time he emptied himself in Ikuno's bottom Aradelle flipped upside down to hang outside her flower, returning the oral attentions from before and making Ikuno roar loud enough to scare away all of the nearby birds as she came. Thankfully his cock had finally started to soften signaling that Bea's dust had run its course.

Though they had hoped to be back to Ikuno's home by nightfall they had come prepared to stay the night if necessary.

Kal laid back in the bed, "That dust is some potent stuff, though it felt good to cum that much it would be nice if it didn't last so long, well, and making me lust crazy too, that part was unpleasant," he looked over at Ikuno, who was rubbing her pregnant looking belly with a wistful smile on her face.

"Are you ok Ikuno?"

"I'm fine, Kal. I'm just a little sad and a little envious."

"Why's that?"

"Because this can never be the real thing for us," she said running her fingers over her belly. "Immortals can't bear children. If we could our numbers would quickly overrun the world. That's not necessarily true, we can have offspring but not with humans, only other spirits similar to ourselves. This feeling is as close as I will come to Aradelle and any other women you have children with."

Not knowing what to say Kal kissed her tenderly then wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as they both fell asleep.

* * *

Morning found Kal and a much slimmer Ikuno standing in Aradelle's clearing.

"It's time, isn't it?" said Aradelle, taking deep breaths in an attempt to keep her emotions under control.

Kal and Ikuno nodded.

Aradelle glided back to the center of her flower, a hole opened around the vines that her feet turned into, allowing her to drop down inside. From his quick peek Kal could see there was a fairly large chamber hidden below the ground, larger than he had expected anyway.

A few moments later Aradelle rose out of the opening clutching Eludora's seed tightly to her chest and accompanied by the two vines that had been mysteriously absent yesterday. Murmuring a few final words of encouragement along with a last kiss on the hard, brown shell she passed Eludora to Kal who gave the seed a quick hug of his own before passing her to Ikuno who wrapped the seed in blankets and placed Eludora securely in her pack.

Ikuno had warned him about this part, it didn't help.

Aradelle stood there, her body wracked with sobs as she attempted to say goodbye to them. Kal and Ikuno both put their arms around her, doing their best to comfort the distraught alarune. Despite her sobbing, her eyes remained dry without her nectar. At the alarune's insistence, they said their goodbyes before turning and walking out of the clearing, followed by the sounds of the brokenhearted plant girl. As they approached the clearing's edge Kal thought about Kahrin's sister and niece and the look on the mother's face during the baby's first meal. He thought about how Aradelle would never get to experience that feeling and now she couldn't even shed a tear as her child was taken away.

Kal stopped, Ikuno doing the same to turn and look at him a moment later.

"Give me a minute," he told Ikuno as he dropped his pack and walked back towards the alarune. As he approached her flower, Aradelle threw her arms around him and sobbed into his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head feeling his own eyes start to well up. Taking her face in his hands Kal touched the corner of his eye to hers then did the same on the other side, as he moved back twin tears made their way haltingly down Aradelle's cheeks.

Feeling wetness, she reached up to touch her face, then pulled her hand away and saw her fingers were damp.

Her face crumpled as she threw her arms around Kal's neck, "I love you Kal!" she cried.

He wrapped his arms around her again, "I love you too 'Dell, I'll make sure our daughter is well taken care of."

Aradelle just nodded into his shoulder.

After giving them a few moments together Ikuno came back over and farewells were repeated, however, the mood had changed dramatically with Aradelle calling out as they left, "Love you, Ikuno! Love you, Kal! Love you, Eludora!" they almost made it away without incident until Aradelle yelled out, "Love you, Eludora! Be good for Daddy!"

"Daddy?" Kal managed to utter, before promptly forgetting how his feet worked and crashing face first into the forest floor.

Back on the trail home, Ikuno couldn't pass up the chance to tease Kal.

"Look at the two of you. Saying, 'I love you Kal!' and 'I love you 'Dell!' after only knowing each other for a few days. It took you months to say that to me and she took even longer! Keep it up an I might actually start getting jealous."

Kal smiled up at her, "We have a lot in common. Besides having a daughter together," he said, nodding towards Ikuno's pack, "and we both love the same big blue ogre."

"Hmph, ogre," she grunted, turning away so he wouldn't see her cheeks go purple.

* * *

Hours later they arrived at Eludora's new home for the next few years. Years ago, Ikuno had made a clearing due south of her home for just this occasion. Over winter they decided to abandon the first location and make another small clearing just off the route Kal took between his and the oni's homes.

"Ready to try your new spell, Kal?" asked Ikuno as she set Eludora's pack down.

"I hope so, this is the only reason I learned it," he replied.

"You may want to look into geomancy a bit more, you seem to have a knack for it, certainly not like your abilities with runes, but it's fair to say you are picking it up quicker than normal," she said, pulling Eludora's seed out and unwrapping it from the blankets.

"Compared to using runes, all these extra motions feel clumsy," he said as he drew a plain magic circle where Eludora was to be planted. Standing outside the circle he held out his fist and drew a rune above it, charging it with power but not activating the spell yet. "Ready?" he asked Ikuno.

"When you are," she replied holding the seed.

Kal made a swirling motion with his hand above his fist, activating the floating rune between them. He watched as the rune above his fist tethered itself to the circle at his feet then began moving further into the ground, when he felt it was deep enough he stopped the swirling motion and moved his fist upward as if pulling a plant out of a flowerpot. The magic circle on the ground copied Kal's motion lifting a large plug of grass, roots, and soil. Most of the dirt came loose and fell back into the hole as he gave his hand a small shake before moving the plug off to the side. Ikuno walked over and made a depression in the loose earth, carefully placing Eludora inside. As Ikuno stepped aside Kal brought his fist back over and down, the floating cylinder of soil and roots moving back into place and coming to rest over the seed that held his daughter.

As they packed the top layer of grass back into place Kal felt a pulse of magic shoot off toward the northeast in the alarune's direction.

"Looks like Aradelle will be able to make her nectar again," he said.

Ikuno and Kal made their way back to the oni's cave to resupply for tomorrow's journey over the mountains to go see the alarune again.

Aradelle and Kal had some unfinished business.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rain pelted Kal and Ikuno as they made their way carefully along the thin mountain trail. They left Ikuno's home earlier that morning to return to Aradelle's forest and crossed over the first mountain without incident. However, as they descended into the valley on the other side, dark clouds rolled in and a smattering of rain dogged them during their ascent of the second peak. As they approached the apex of the trail the weather turned even fouler, devolving into a full-blown downpour with screaming winds and lightning illuminating the sky every few seconds.

Ikuno!" Kal yelled above the howling wind, "Do you know of any caves nearby that we can wait this out!"

"If there are, they aren't on this trail!" she called back from just ahead of him.

"What about if you made us one the way you made your pool!" he yelled.

"I can't!" she answered partly turning to look at him, "Using magic during a… Kal!" she shouted as she saw him slip on a particularly smooth rock slickened further by the rain. falling too quickly to catch himself she watched as his head bounced off the stone below. Groaning as he tried to get his eyes to work again Kal rolled over onto his back and instinctively pushed magic into the healing rune. The oni had only taken a step back down the path to check on him when she saw the rune light up.

"Kal! No!" she screamed.

Lightning arced down from the sky striking a short way up the rocky slope above them. Like a shining serpent the column of electricity slithered back and forth as it made its way downward, drawn towards the magical energy from Kal's healing rune. A boulder only a couple of paces up the mountainside from Kal caught the bolt and held it, the slightly higher elevation overcoming its attraction to the magic. Raw electricity poured through the large rock, instantaneously heating up the gasses and moisture trapped within.

The stone detonated.

The concussion picked Ikuno up and threw her to the ground further up the trail. She could only watch as Kal's body was thrown from the path, bouncing limply down the rocky slope before sliding over a ledge and out of sight. She screamed his name again in panic but couldn't hear her own voice, only a high-pitched ringing.

Ignoring the intense pain all over her body the oni picked herself up and quickly made her way back to where Kal had been lying after the explosion. Stepping off the trail, she began sliding down the slope toward the ledge Kal had fallen over, her claws leaving deep gouges in the rock as she used them to slow her descent. Holding her breath, she peered into the blackness below.

A flash of lightning illuminated Kal's body lying on a rain-soaked shelf a little more than ten paces down. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ikuno swung her legs over and hung by her claws for a moment before dropping to the ground next to the unconscious man.

Kneeling next to him, she checked Kal over in between lightning flashes, the flickering sky making her night vision almost useless on the shadowed ledge. The oni could immediately tell that he was in very bad shape, in multiple places he was bleeding where shrapnel from the boulder had struck him and both of his legs broke from the fall, but thankfully he was still breathing. However, even as she watched his breathing was becoming shallower and shallower.

"No, no, no, no, no!" she said in alarm though she still couldn't hear. She knew she would have to work fast, and it was going to be difficult to save him with the lightning storm still raging above them. Though the outcropping above offered some protection, she would still only have a few seconds to heal him before the energy in the lightning sought out her magic. She had to be certain she canceled her spell before it reached her. Moving quickly, she set the bones of his legs in place, so the spells would have less to do, then waited for a particularly long string of flashes hoping it would drain some of the energy from the clouds.

Magic circles appeared in front of both hands as her healing spells went to work, for a moment she was envious of Kal's ability to pump more and more magic into a spell.

Two seconds went by.

Kal's legs lined up and the bones joined.

Three seconds.

Shrapnel began pushing its way out of his body as the bones in his legs just barely began to mend, he breathed deeper as a portion of his chest seemed to inflate. as

Above her lightning struck the mountainside, once again making a jagged path towards the source of magic.

Four seconds.

Kal's entire body straightened and Ikuno realized he had broken his back. If the lightning could hold off just a moment longer.

Ikuno knew she had waited too long when, as if in slow motion, a tiny, dimly glowing feeler of electricity split in two just above her healing spells and connected with both of them.

The spells shattered as the full power of the bolt slammed into them, flaring as bright as the sun and followed by a crash of thunder that nearly threw Ikuno off the ledge into the abyss below. As she flew through the air, the oni could only watch in anguish as the blast bent her fingers back, stripping some of them down to the bone.

Noise assaulted the blue woman's senses as the thunder bounced among the mountain tops. Sitting up she peered about in surprise that she could see or hear anything at all after the lightning strike. Looking down at her mangled hands, her surprise turned into astonishment as flesh grew and bones mended before her eyes. Light coming from where she had been standing caught her attention. Still floating where the lightning touched them, her healing spells illuminated the stone shelf around Kal as they surged with power. Ikuno hissed in pain from her fingers as the magic circles grew dimmer and winked out, the spells fading before she had fully healed.

Cradling her injured hands, the oni stood and made her way back to the injured young man. His legs and back were now straight, and his chest was no longer dented in on one side as it rose and fell normally. Small pieces of shrapnel from the boulder still stuck out of him in places, but the rest had been pushed out and healed over.

Using her feet, she slid Kal further up the stone shelf, pushing him up against the rock face under the overhang he had fallen from and getting him out of the worst of the rain. Sitting down next to his unconscious form, she leaned back against the stone.

Ikuno looked from Kal to her unresponsive and severely aching fingers.

"Worth it."

* * *

Hours later, Kal was still lying on the ledge unconscious. The oni had wrapped him up as well as she could, but his clothing was soaked through and the weather had turned much colder now that the warm air from the storm had passed on. Rain turned into flurries, then into a steady snowfall that was common for these elevations, but the dropping temperatures now had Ikuno worried that if they didn't get off this ledge her young lover may end up freezing to death. To make matters worse, the sun was going down.

Earlier, Ikuno had taken off Kal's vambrace that held the healing rune and attempted to fix her fingers, only to find that something in the lightning had completely drained her. She wasn't surprised, other magic-users who had lived through a lightning strike, some who weren't even using magic at the time, reported finding any crystals on their person emptied along with their natural reserves.

She tried waking Kal up for a quickie, not only to keep him warm but also the subsequent increase in her magic regeneration, however, he steadfastly refused to stir. With things getting starting to freeze she knew that her natural resistance to hot and cold temperatures was eating up a good portion of what magic she regained.

After a few hours she tried again and still hadn't stored enough to activate the healing rune, though it did glow for a fraction of a second. Worse yet, she discovered another of Kal's abilities to cause her mild annoyance. Without Kal's control over how magic flowed into the runes, both healing and the shield rune lit up on the bracer when she tried to heal herself, wasting precious magic trying to create the unneeded shield. Frustrated with their predicament she sat back down next to Kal, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

With no answers coming to her she looked down at Kal. He was wrapped as tightly in his cloak as she could get him without the use of her hands and had positioned him so he was laying facing the wall, hoping that his body heat would get trapped between the rock and his cloak. For the hundredth time that day, she cursed herself for leaving their bedrolls in the shack, thinking they would be back without any trouble. Ikuno had managed to carefully remove his travel pack with her feet, a process that took a fair amount of patience since she had to be careful not to cut him with the claws on her toes. She was currently using it to keep him propped up on his side.

Ikuno's eyes widened and she groaned in irritation at her own forgetfulness. Kal usually kept a charged crystal in his pack and the lightning that made the boulder explode hadn't hit him directly.

"Sorry Kal," she mumbled as she hooked a damaged hand through the strap and dragged it away, letting Kal roll onto his back. "With luck, we'll be out of here soon."

As she began undoing the leather laces with her teeth, movement from Kal made her stop and look in his direction.

Kal was shivering.

The oni bit through the laces, her sharp teeth slicing through the leather with ease. A fleeting thought applauded Kal's courage to put his penis anywhere near her mouth. With her back to the drop-off, Ikuno carefully dumped out the pack, not wanting to take a chance on the crystal bouncing out and possibly falling off the ledge.

She whipped her head to the side to stare at the rock face on the other side of her from where Kal was lying, she could have sworn she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Worried that the stress of the situation might be making her see things, she continued to cautiously shake out the pack's contents. As Kal's spare crystal bounced out and up against the bottom of the overhang, her eyes were again drawn to the stone wall off to the side. Ikuno carefully picked up the crystal using her wrists then brought it up and held it between her lips. Getting Kal's vambrace she adjusted it so the shield would activate in a safe direction and began pulling power from the crystal. It took a moment to overcome the strong resistance before both runes on the piece of leather lit up and her fingers resumed healing.

As her hands finished mending she kept looking at the rock face, something wasn't right about it. There was a small section that jutted out a bit and was slightly different color from the rest of the wall that she was certain had not been there earlier. She pushed it out of her mind as she flexed her fingers and quit powering the runes on the vambrace. With a power source and access to her magic again, it was time to get Kal back on his feet. Ikuno took the crystal out of her mouth and knelt next to Kal's shivering form, the magic circle of her healing spell appearing in front of her hand as she continued repairing the damage to his body. Once she healed him, she could get them out of there, even if he was unconscious, and down to lower altitudes where it was warmer. The oni smiled as a thought came to her. If she could spare the magic for a speed spell once she got off the mountain, Aradelle would be more than willing to help her warm Kal up.

A rocky hand closed on the arm holding the crystal and pulled Ikuno away from Kal, swinging her out over the drop-off. For a terrifying moment she thought her assailant was going to fling her off the mountainside to land on the jagged rocks below. It was almost a relief when the person swung her all the way around to slam sideways into the rock face before falling on her side.

Quickly getting her bearings, the oni looked over to see a rock golem, an earth elemental who looked like a woman with various body parts made of stone, standing over Kal's body.

Dropping the crystal, Ikuno dug her claws into the stone and launched herself at the woman. Surprised at the speed with which the oni recovered, the rock girl dropped down over Kal's body and sank into the mountain, taking him with her.

Ikuno came to a skidding halt, digging claws on both and hands and feet into the stone to keep herself from flying off the other side of the rocky shelf. Standing up, she looked at the place Kal and the golem had disappeared.

Ikuno swore under her breath, she could feel through their connection that Kal was alive, but he was traveling down and away from her very quickly. She made short work of picking up the contents of Kal's travel pack and stuffing them back into the satchel. Retrieving the crystal, the oni cast a strength spell on herself as she looked at the overhang Kal had fallen over earlier that day. With pack and crystal in one hand she leapt upward, her claws sinking deeply into the stone before pulling herself up one handed and making her way back up the snowy slope to the trail.

"Sorry 'Dell," said Ikuno, looking sadly in the direction of the alarune's forest. Turning away, she began trudging through the snow toward her cave, trying to formulate a plan to rescue her lover.

* * *

Pleasant feelings from his groin coaxed Kal from his slumber, along with it came a painful throbbing in his head, back, and legs.

"Ikuno stop," Kal groaned without opening his eyes, "I feel like I was just trampled by an ox."

As memories slowly filtered back in, Kal recalled watching a column of lightning stop just up the slope from where he had fallen and coming to rest on a boulder, everything after that was darkness. Judging by how his voice echoed, he assumed that something bad happened and Ikuno brought him back to her cavern.

The pleasant feelings continued, which was uncharacteristic of Ikuno, not that he had asked her to stop very often, and then only because he was in the mood for something different at the time. Regardless, before now she had always quit whatever she was doing immediately when asked, with one exception, but that was a special circumstance.

"Ikuno, stop!" he said more forcefully and waved a hand over his groin to shoo her away, after the incident with her getting drunk on magic Kal felt it was safer for his manhood to never push her away when he was in her mouth. The back of his hand smacked against a piece of rock… that was moving… over his dick… like he was getting a blowjob from a boulder.

Kal's eyes snapped open as he sat up, ignoring the screaming pain in his head he fought through the dizziness and looked down his body to see… he was getting a blowjob from a boulder.

Jerking his hips to the side he pulled out of the creature's mouth while the strength rune came to life. He tried to push the thing in front of him away, instead sending himself sliding backwards on whatever soft material was beneath him.

Looking about he saw that he was in a small cavern dimly lit by glowing mushrooms and lichens. He sat upon what appeared to be some type of moss bed that covered this small section of the cavern floor. The air was damp and warm, and he could hear a trickle of water coming from somewhere, though he couldn't tell where in the faint light.

He scrambled to his feet with painful protests from his legs and back along with another wave of dizziness, in front of him the creature was also standing up. Not wanting to deal with this thing while injured, he pushed magic towards the healing rune. Nothing happened. It took him a moment to realize the bracer with his healing rune and shield was gone. The creature stomped forward attempting to pin him to the wall but Kal easily avoided its slow movements. Stumbling his way to the other side of the cavern on legs that didn't want to obey his commands, he quickly drew two runes in the air. One was the drawn version of the light spell that Ikuno had made him learn, instead of replacing the glowing rock he had lost.

The rune for the light spell spun in the air for a moment before turning into a ball of light and floating to the middle of the cavern ceiling, finally giving him a good look at his opponent. The woman appeared to be half-rock and half-human. Starting at the side of her nose, the upper left quarter of her head was made entirely of deep gray stone that protruded from her skin by about a finger's width. A deep recess mirroring the placement of her human eye held a glittering red gemstone that shifted and glinted in the magical light as she looked about. Her right arm looked like she wore a giant stone gauntlet that covered her entire forearm, with a large spike extending from the elbow. On both of her feet were similar stone 'boots,' only these boots had toes and moved like a normal foot as she walked towards him. When she got closer, Kal noticed tiny white flecks within the gray stone that occasionally caught the light just right and shimmered for a moment.

The rest of her body was relatively normal for a human woman, her breasts sagged just a bit but had a tantalizing sway as she walked. Her belly, hips, and thighs were thick. Not heavy, but certainly not athletic either. Kal remembered a man in Telsin describing a townswoman with this body type as, "built for comfort, not speed." Her human eye was a lighter shade of the gray from her rocky parts and she had long black hair with gray streaks, that Kal was fairly certain weren't from age, that sprouted from the half of her scalp not covered in stone.

The second was the drawn healing spell that Ikuno had also been insistent he learn 'just in case,' he was regretting acting like an ass back then and putting up a fight about learning it because of its difficulty. Kal grabbed the healing rune out of the air and held it in his hand like a medallion as he moved about avoiding the woman. The dizziness went away as did the pain in his back and legs, though much slower than if he had used the healing rune on his bracers. As his body mended, his movements became quicker and more fluid.

Kal dodged to the side and darted back to the other side of the cavern putting as much distance as possible between him and the rock girl. She didn't look very 'comfortable' at the moment with all the stone body parts, and speed certainly wasn't her forte. Over the next few minutes, they continued the chase. Kal managed to pick up his pants and boots and even put them on as she made her slow but unfaltering way across the cavern towards him over and over, her impassive face not telling Kal if she was enjoying the game or getting sick of it. Kal began to get the feeling this was a losing battle, though he was in decent shape he was starting to get a little winded from all the running back and forth, even so, he had to eat and sleep sometime.

"What do you want?" he asked as she walked towards him. She opened her mouth but a sound like grinding together two handfuls of gravel came out instead of words. So much for communicating.

Though he didn't want to resort to violence he felt he had no choice, unless he did something she would just wear him down until he collapsed or gave in. The next time she came close, instead of running away he slipped around behind her and activated his strength rune before pushing her up against the wall of the cavern, and straight into it. Kal took a couple of steps back in confusion only to see her walk back out of the wall and continue coming after him. Kal backpedaled to the middle of the room, dropping into a fighting stance. When the rock girl got closer she held out her arms as if to embrace him, having already gotten an idea for how strong she was Kal didn't think that would be good for his newly regained health.

Kal's mind raced as he tried to figure out what to do, having seen her phase into the rock he took a closer look around. His fears were quickly confirmed, there were no exits to the cavern. She had somehow brought him here and, at the moment, she was his only means of getting out. He had to figure out some way to communicate with her.

"No!" he shouted when she was only an arm's length away. She hesitated then took another step forward.

Stepping back he shouted again, "No!" he pointed at her chest then at his groin, "If you want this, then you take me back to the surface," he continued patting his chest then pointed up and to the side, he felt a strange pull in that direction that he assumed was his bond with Ikuno.

The rock girl brought her arms down and tilted her head to the side, for a moment nothing happened then with her large rock hand she pointed at his crotch then herself then at Kal's chest and down at the ground, combined with the stern look on her face the intention was clear, 'Your cock is mine, you stay here'.

Kal shook his head, though he was glad there was some way he could speak with her, now to figure out how to get her to take him out of the cave. As she went to wrap her arms around him Kal ducked down, he put his hands on her hips and attempted to pick her up, his strength rune getting brighter and brighter until he finally lifted her off the ground. Her rock hand had closed on his shoulder, but she appeared to lose a significant amount of strength as soon as she was no longer in contact with the ground, she flailed around in his grip but like everything else she did it was slowed down, almost like she was trying to move in water.

Kal tossed her away and the rock girl flew much further than he expected considering the amount of power it had taken to lift her. He could feel the heat from the strength rune through the leather of his bracer, he wouldn't be able to do that many more times. When she landed next to the opposite wall her feet stuck to the floor as if glued there but momentum bent the rest of her body backwards. To Kal's surprise, the rocky part of her head bounced off the side of the cave instead of sinking into it.

The rock girl stood up straight and stared at him in surprise.

Kal took the chance to repeat himself, "You get this, then you take me back," he said with the appropriate hand gestures.

Giving no discernable response, or even changing her expression, she turned around and walked into the side of the cavern.

When she didn't immediately return Kal's shoulders slumped as the tension of the encounter drained away. He had a good feeling she would be back, after all, he had something she wanted. Not that he really minded giving it to her, the girl's human side was certainly attractive enough though he couldn't help but cringe a bit at the idea of having those rocky legs wrapped around his waist like Ikuno sometimes did.

Kal followed the sound of dripping over to the side of the cavern. Water poured out of a tiny hole, dropping into a groove eroded buy the small stream over many years before running down a small crack and disappearing. Collecting some in his hand he sniffed it before taking a tiny sip to make sure it was clean then drank heartily of the icy water in hopes of calming some of his hunger pangs. While being chased about the cavern he had noticed that his pack was missing along with his other bracer meaning that he didn't have access to any of the food they had brought for the stay with Aradelle.

Kal walked over to the area covered in the spongy moss and sat down, the lack of food complicated his predicament. He didn't know how long he had been here but assumed it had only been a short while since he wasn't feeling weak from not eating. Still, he needed to come up with a way to force the issue of taking him back to the surface before he got to the point where the rock girl, a golem if he remembered correctly now that he had a chance to think about it, could just take what she wanted without giving in to his demands.

The warmth of the cavern was making his winter cloak uncomfortable, he took it off and wrapped it into a tight ball before laying down and using it as a pillow. Since he didn't feel the golem meant to actually harm him, Kal canceled the light spell. Within a couple of minutes, the sound of trickling water lulled him to sleep in the glowing cavern.

* * *

Bonn's hooves pounded the ground as Perra came riding up to Ikuno's cave, jumping off the horse before he had come to a complete stop. Reaching into a pocket she grabbed her glowing stone, yelling the activation word as she ran into the oni's cave. Coming out the other side of the entry tunnel she saw the oni over by the shelves that held her spell components, carefully picking out those she would soon need.

"Have you found out anything yet?" she asked walking over to the large blue woman.

"Not specifically," Ikuno said without turning, "but I felt him wake earlier, for a few minutes he was in some kind of distress but then calmed down and went back to sleep, near as I can tell he is fine. Since you came yesterday I've combed my library for information on golems and learned quite a bit about them. Now I'm getting things together for a spell he will need, then going to see Aradelle."

"Why are you going all the way to see her?" Perra asked as Ikuno tied up Kal's travel pack with all of the things she needed inside.

Ikuno pointed at her horns. Perra had noticed they were completely black yesterday when she came to see how things had gone with Aradelle and Eludora. Today the area around the base had returned to a golden color. "I need to get topped up with magic and Aradelle is the best way I can think of," said the oni, "I did something similar a long time ago and promised I never would again, I hope she is okay with me breaking that promise to save Kal."

Perra blushed bright red, in a talk about Aradelle, and how her nectar pertains to his inks, Kal had done an exceptionally poor job of avoiding where exactly the nectar came from. To Perra's relief, Ikuno was already headed out of the cavern and didn't see her embarrassment.

"Good luck Ikuno! Bring him home safe. I don't know if Mom could take it if something happened to him, she's beside herself with worry."

Ikuno stopped at the cave entrance and glared at the girl, "I told you not to tell her, to make something up like he was staying with me for the next few days."

Perra stood her ground under the oni's gaze, "I did tell her that and she immediately called me a liar and demanded the truth, telling me not to underestimate the abilities of a mother to know when something is wrong with their child. To be honest, she's pretty pissed at me right now. On the other hand, I haven't seen her this lively and active in months."

"Hmm, tell her it was my idea, I didn't want her to worry. Goodbye Perra, with luck Kal and I will be back soon," said Ikuno as she started up the rocky trail on her way to see Aradelle.

"Godspeed," she called after the oni before walking over to Bonn where he was grazing and mounting up to head home.

* * *

Hours later Ikuno came tromping into Aradelle's clearing, stopping as she passed the line of trees to catch her breath.

"Ikki!" yelled Aradelle happily, but her face quickly turned to worry. "Why are you breathing so hard?" she looked past the oni into the trees, "and where is Kal?"

Ikuno held up a finger while she took a couple of deep breaths, "After I came down off the mountains I ran the rest of the way here," she said walking over to stand next to Aradelle's flower. "The second question will take a bit longer to answer." Ikuno gave the alarune a quick rundown of the events since Kal slipped and hit his head, punctuated by gasps from alarune. "I spent the last couple of days learning all about golems and coming up with a plan, now I'm here," she said finally.

Aradelle's petite hands covered her mouth and she stared wide-eyed at the oni as she finished her explanation. The alarune then looked at Ikuno in confusion, "Why are you here Ikki?" she asked.

Ikuno looked uncomfortable, tapping her darkened horns she said, "I hope you can forgive me 'Dell but I didn't want to go searching for Kal when I'm running dry. I know I prom…"

"Forgiven," Aradelle stated flatly, twin vines grabbed Ikuno's arms and spun her around so her back was to Aradelle. The alarune rose up and over the oni's head and sat backwards with her legs over Ikuno's shoulders so her sex was firmly planted on the oni's mouth. Aradelle grabbed Ikuno's horns and pushed her head back so they were looking at each other, "You're going to have to work for it, after your little tale I'm more worried than in the mood right now. Just promise you'll bring Kal back to me."

Ikuno just smiled and nodded at the petite alarune's forceful tone, "I love you 'Dell."

"I love you tooOOO," Aradelle moaned, leaning over and resting her arms on Ikuno's horns as the oni's tongue went to work.

* * *

Kal opened his eyes and sighed, part of him had been hoping he would wake up in his own bed, or better yet Ikuno's, but all that greeted him was the dim green glow of the cavern he fell asleep in. He wasn't sure what woke him up whether it was the pangs from his empty belly or the morning wood proudly making a tent in his trousers. Since he could only take care of one of those problems at the moment, he got up and walked over to the crack in the floor that his tiny water source ran to. Summoning a ball of light to help his aim, he carefully released the contents of his bladder, careful to not splash on the sides in case it made the whole cavern smell like urine.

As he finished, a thought occurred to him that he at first pushed away as foolish and weird. But it kept coming back and the more he considered it, the more he believed that the thought might have merit. Kal leaned back against the wall and for the first time since the snowstorm he took his cock in his hand and began to slowly stroke it. He pulled up images of Aradelle but quickly dismissed those, he still planned on going to see her as soon as possible once he got out of here, so he would save those memories for another time. Kahrin was an interesting choice, her constant desire to have him inside her had certainly been intriguing but not really what he needed at the moment. The whore who taught him how to please a woman had felt good but was more of a learning experience and never felt very sensual or erotic, then there was Perra who was almost… Kal's mind shied away from that line of thinking. In a short while, those thoughts wouldn't be an issue, but for now, he didn't need his penis up and vanishing on him. Ikuno was the obvious choice as he had the most experiences to draw from with her. Closing his eyes Kal laid his head back against the wall and began to stroke a bit faster as he drew up a particularly fun memory

Kal had awoken before Ikuno that morning and seen that she was laying on her belly with her head facing away from him, crawling under the blankets he had started at the back of Ikuno's neck and began kissing his way down her spine. Ikuno let out sleepy little moans as he made his way down to her tailbone and beyond. Kal spread her cheeks and teased her pucker with his tongue making her entire body jerk with pleasure as she started breathing heavily.

"Don't stop," he heard her whisper as he started to continue down to her pussy, obliging the oni he flattened out his tongue and ran it back up to her back door, making Ikuno moan in passion once again. For the next few minutes, he licked and teased the sensitive flesh around her sphincter, occasionally making his tongue into a point and spearing the tight ring of her anus making her push her ass back up into his face.

Kal's oni-sized cock was hard and telling him it was time for more, straddling her thighs he replaced his tongue with the head of his prick at the entrance to her rear. Carefully and slowly he eased into her back passage, savoring the tightness around his cock as he sank down until he was pressed against her cheeks and couldn't go any further.

Ikuno clenched as he ground his hips into her bottom, her inner walls massaging every inch of his shaft all at once. Kal started making short powerful thrusts into her ass, for a while Ikuno laid her head on her arms and relaxed, enjoying the pleasurable feelings from her rear but soon was pushing back at him trying to get him deeper each time he slid into her back door. After a few minutes of being gripped by the tightness of Ikuno's rear and having her throw her hips back into him every time he pushed into her, Kal felt his balls draw up and he unloaded their contents into Ikuno's ass as she panted and moaned in pleasure.

Back in the cave, Kal squeezed the last little bit of his seed into his hand. Thinking about how obsessed Aradelle and Ikuno became over the scent and taste of his cum he was hoping that the golem girl might have the same reaction, making her aroused enough to agree to whatever he wants just as long as he has sex with her. Walking around the cavern he let a few drops out of his hand every so often as he made his way towards the center in a large spiral, only avoiding his sleeping spot and just around the trickle of water he drank from. Wiping his hand on the stone floor in the center of the cavern he went over and washed off then got a drink of water to chase away the hunger for a bit longer before returning to his moss bed. Kal was glad whatever monster girls found so exciting was undetectable to him, a quick sniff told him that, at least to him, nothing in the cave had changed.

He came awake with a start, having dozed off for a few minutes, or maybe hours, he had difficulty telling how much time passed stuck in this cave. Another presence entering the room had roused him, getting to his feet, Kal quickly summoned the ball of light to see if his plan had worked.

He stared in shock at the woman in the middle of the room. With her eye closed she was taking long deep breaths through her nose with each breath it seemed like she was becoming more human. Her feet and arm shrank down to just a touch bigger than normal and changed color to match the rest of her skin while keeping the stony texture. The rocky part on her head did the same but for her ruby eye which looked a lot larger without the surrounding stone jutting out around it. On a personal note Kal had hoped to see hair miraculously grow on that side of her head, but no such luck.

He suddenly questioned the wisdom of his plan when she opened her eye again and looked at him like a hungry wolf looks at a lame deer.

Kal danced out of the way as she lunged at him, she was far quicker than before but even without using his speed and stamina runes she was going to have a hard time catching him. As they stirred the air from her chasing him about the cavern her movements got slower. The human parts of her face that were normally impassive and showed little emotion were starting to take on an expression of desperation and she was having trouble keeping her hand from straying toward her groin.

Kal used the extra space between them to reiterate his deal that he would take care of her needs if she took him back to the surface, each time he was met by a firm negative head shake. Eventually, he was just walking to stay in front of the golem as she stumbled after him, the insides of her thighs glistening from where her juices ran down. Kal truly felt sorry for the girl, having no idea the dramatic effect his scent would have on her, he was thinking he might owe Bea an apology after this.

Finally, the rock girl dropped to her knees, openly masturbating in front of him, her need plainly etched on her face. Kal stepped over and knelt down in front of her, the strength rune lit up as he pulled her hands away from her sex, getting a gravelly response that could have been a moan of frustration. The rune was almost unneeded, she was only a bit stronger than him at the moment.

Kal patted his crotch then made like he was about to slide a couple of finger into her sex, "I do this for you, and you take me to the surface," he said patting his chest and pointing upwards, he would have pointed towards Ikuno but something was odd and felt like she was more to the side than up like before. The golem's face went from needy to intense sadness and she adamantly shook her head.

Kal sat back and sighed. Though he was hoping to not have to do this, if she wouldn't give in even in her current state, he knew he had to sweeten the deal.

He started making gestures, 'I take care of you, you take me to the surface, I go do other things, we meet again and come here, I take care of you, you take me to the surface,' he repeated the motions until she began to reply with her own.

'I take you to surface, you go away, never come back,' she gestured shaking her head.

'I will come back,' he motioned emphatically, he didn't know how to convey, 'I promise,' through gestures so he just brought her hand up and held it over his heart, hoping she understood.

Kal held his breath as the rock girl stared at her hand, after a long pause she looked up at his face and nodded.

"Thank you!" he said throwing his arms around her, she tentatively hugged him back for a few moments before her desire reasserted itself and she began rubbing her nipples up and down against his chest.

Not wanting to do this on the hard, stone floor, he stood and pulled her up with him The strength rune shone dimly he scooped her up in his arms and walked over to the mossy area he used as a bed. The girl became significantly lighter as he lifted her off the ground but was very obviously uncomfortable with being picked up. When he laid her down in his sleeping area the first thing she did was dig a small hole through the moss and dirt until her hand encountered the stone beneath, she immediately relaxed, the strained expression disappearing from her face and her attention turning back to Kal.

Kal watched confused for a moment as he figured out what she was doing, then began undressing as he saw her relax, leaving his vambrace on just in case she got too excited and lost control. To her grinding-rock objection, he picked her up once again and repositioned her so her rocky arm could maintain contact with the wall, if one of her hands was going to be preoccupied with touching stone he'd rather it be the non-human one.

Laying atop her body he began by kissing her, her relative inexperience showing immediately as she seemed confused as to what to do when his tongue pressed into her mouth. She quickly caught on and soon had her free arm pulling him closer as their tongues swirled around one another. Her hips pressed up into him and he knew that he could just slip inside, being done with it and on his way in a few minutes, but that felt like he was cheating the girl on their agreement. She was trusting him to come back and he wanted to show his appreciation for that trust.

He nibbled on her bottom lip before moving down to kiss and nip at her neck. That was when he ran into a problem: she moaned. The sound of two rocks being ground against each other was an instant mood wreck for Kal.

He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry," he apologized then took her human hand and moved it from behind his back to over her mouth. She sighed in disappointment but nodded her understanding, returning her hand to his back but keeping her lips tightly shut. Kal continued working on her neck, leaving a couple of pronounced hickeys just for the fun of it, before making his way to her breasts.

He had thought before that Ikuno or 'Dell's nipples were hard as rocks, this girl's actually were. They didn't move at all as he ran his tongue over them, though a gentle bite followed by the golem slapping her hand over her mouth as she moaned loudly let Kal know that they were just as sensitive as their softer counterparts.

The golem girl's responsiveness was turning him on immensely and he made his way further down her body, placing a kiss on her prominent and swollen clit before going lower and running his tongue along her folds. Her juices had a strange earthy taste that seemed to make his tongue tingle slightly, it wasn't unpleasant, but it certainly was different. Swirling his tongue around her clit and making her hips buck, he found it to be just as hard as her nipples. As a precaution, Kal activated the strength rune when he felt her hand on the back of his head pressing him into her sex. With a final long flat tongued lick from the bottom of her pussy to her clit, he moved back up her body and placed his hard cock at her entrance.

As he was about to enter her, the head of his prick bumped into something. Kal's eyes widened in surprise and he looked down to see a similar expression on her face, it had never occurred to him that she might be a virgin. Unprepared for this situation he thought quickly about how to handle it as the golem girl gave him a questioning look. Kal sat back on his knees and pulled her up into a partially sitting position, getting a dirty look as her hand came off the wall, she held herself up with the rock hand as he brought her other one over and placed it on his hip, moving back and forth while holding his hand there to let her know she was directing his movements. Getting the idea after a few moments, she pulled him close until he bumped into her maidenhead again before gasping and quickly pushing him away.

Kal traced the healing rune in the air in anticipation so he could pull out and heal her, quickly taking away the pain.

The girl looked at the rune recalling when he used it after he first woke up. As he held the strange glowing symbol, the man went from being nearly hobbled and wincing with each movement to darting around the cavern as if he had never been hurt. She frowned, something felt wrong about him using it on her. She knew it would hurt a bit, but this was something special, something that, even in kindness, he shouldn't take away. The golem girl batted the hand with the rune away, letting it fade. Kal thought perhaps she didn't understand what he was trying to do and began drawing it again. Her hand gently grabbed his arm stopping him, when he looked at her face she was shaking her head. Bringing his hand down to her breast she put hers on his hip and began moving him back and forth, occasionally bumping her hymen.

Kal readied himself when he saw her grit her teeth, with her next pull he burst through her maidenhead, pushing until he was completely inside her even when her hand on his hip stopped.

The girl winced as Kal took her virginity, she had actually chickened out and stopped moving her hand at the last moment, but the man had kept going. Instead of being upset it somehow felt… right, that she had been taken by a man instead of essentially doing it herself but using his body. He laid her back onto the moss, her hand instinctively reaching out to touch the stone wall next to them as he held himself above her.

Kal searched her face for some indication that she was ready for him to continue. His cue didn't come from her face but her hips as she started to make tiny movements, testing how things felt. Kal began to pull out, the girl moaned into her hand again as his cock slowly drug along her insides with only a tiny ring where it still stung as the head of his prick drew past it. She waved her hand at him in a way that Kal interpreted as either 'more' or 'faster', either way, he was happy to oblige as he began taking faster and longer strokes into her tight pussy.

Minutes went by as their bodies came together over and over with Kal leaning down and sucking on her nipples and her using her free hand to hold him to her breast. Kal moved up and kissed her, their tongues dueling as he began to thrust harder and faster. Holding himself off her with one hand he reached down and brushed his fingers across her clit, Kal's strength rune flared to life as she wrapped both arms around him and lifted herself to his chest in what would have been a bone-crushing embrace. He wiggled his fingers across her clit again and her whole body tightened up, Kal's bracer glowing brightly as it protected him from being hurt. Kal had been holding back waiting for the golem girl to climax, he now relaxed and let his own orgasm wash over him as he filled the twitching pussy of the girl beneath him with cum.

The woman slowly let go and lowered herself to the floor, her hand again going to the wall as if drawn there. Kal looked down and saw a look of pure and utter adoration on her face as she stared back at him, in return he gave her a lopsided grin unsure of how to react to such idolization.

Kal looked down towards her chest as magic rippled between them, the golem girl seemingly unaware of its presence. As it snapped into place Kal felt strong annoyance filter through his bond but not from her, instead, it came from off to the side and not far away. A resounding boom shook the walls of the cavern knocking the dust from the ceiling loose. Kal jumped up and hurriedly put his pants back on as the ground shook with another thunderous blow, he looked over to see the golem girl had returned to her original form. She didn't stop there as the rocky parts of her body expanded covering her in a stone suit of armor in a matter of seconds, her ruby eye shining as she prepared to defend herself and her new mate. Kal did the same, hurriedly pulling his shirt over his head and stepping into his boots as they waited for the next impact. The golem girl continued growing rocks around her body and now stood taller than Kal, looking like she was made entirely out of stone.

They didn't have to wait long as a small section of the cavern wall blasted outward, a disheveled and dust covered oni stepping inside wielding her iron club. With a gravelly yell, the golem girl charged the oni.

"Not today, girlie", said Ikuno. Holding her club straight out she bumped the golem in the forehead with the endcap. Though it looked like just a tap the golem did a backwards somersault and landed just shy of the opposite wall. Picking herself up she charged again but came to a sudden stop as Kal stepped in between the two.

He began making gestures at the golem hoping to tell her that Ikuno was a friend.

"That won't be necessary, Kal," said Ikuno from behind him. She spun him around and dropped to one knee in front of him. The golem's grinding voice came from behind and Ikuno answered, "Yes I can understand you and in a moment he will too. Just to be sure, I'm not an enemy. In fact, I'm also one of his women."

Ikuno was trying to do something with his ear, he jerked his head away, "Also?!"

The oni glared at him and pulled his head back in front of her. "Yes, 'also'. Now be still I need a drop of blood," she said as her claw poked the tiny lobe in the front of his ear canal. She tilted his head to the side while holding up a small pearl, letting a single drop of blood fall on it. She quickly healed his ear and began another strange chant that created odd echoes and made your bones feel like they were humming, much like his compatibility spell. As the chant completed the drop of blood soaked into the pearl. She quickly cast another spell that created tiny magical shields over her claws, so she didn't need to worry about cutting him by accident.

"Okay Kal, open wide," she said holding up the pearl to his mouth.

Kal gave her an uncertain look. "It's a good thing I trust you," he said, tentatively opening his mouth.

"It's a good thing I'm yours or you might have something to worry about," she said. Peering into Kal's maw, Ikuno placed the pearl against the roof of his mouth right behind one of his back teeth. Muttering some words underneath her breath she snapped her fingers and Kal winced as the pearl sunk into the flesh and bone inside his mouth. Kal spit a couple times after she pulled her fingers out, she was still covered in stone dust.

"You.. are.. hurting.. him," came a gruff voice from behind him.

"He'll be fine in a second," she said as she pulsed a healing spell at him, the pain in his mouth faded and disappeared.

He turned around, "I can understand you now! That's wonderful!"

Ikuno stood up behind him radiating annoyance, "Of course you can, it's a translation spell."

As she spoke the golem in front of them began to shrink with the stone of her body either rejoining her arm, feet, and face or just sinking into her skin and vanishing. The only difference being a bra and panties made of pebbles stayed, covering her breasts and bottom.

"I'm.. happy.. too," she said, her voice sounding more feminine with the excess stone gone.

"Mind explaining what happened here?" Ikuno asked as she dusted herself off, she heard the trickle of water and walked over to wash up some. As soon as she walked out of the initial blast area from her dramatic entrance she sniffed the air. Staring at Kal she asked, "What on earth did you do to the poor girl?"

Embarrassed, Kal began explaining what happened but only made it as far as casting the light spell before Ikuno stopped him.

"I can't concentrate with your scent being so strong in here either we need to leave, or I need you inside me."

Kal gave her a curious look then motioned towards the moss bed, "After you, Milady."

* * *

Their lovemaking was brief with Ikuno bending over on the moss and helping things along with her fingers, feeling that she just needed to get off a couple of times to counteract the effects of Kal's scent on her libido. The golem girl watched avidly, plainly getting turned on by the show judging by the flush in her cheeks and heavy breathing, but seemed to have no issue with him being with another woman.

After two small orgasms, Ikuno was courteous enough to ask if the rock girl wanted a turn since Kal hadn't come yet, to which the golem replied, "Want.. to.. but.. sore.. I.. will.. wait."

She looked over her shoulder at Kal, confused, "Why is she sore?"

Kal looked sheepish, "I was her first."

Ikuno's eyes widened, "Well that may explain why she bonded with you so quickly," she then glared back at Kal, "You took her virginity and didn't even offer to heal her afterward?"

Before Kal could defend himself the golem spoke up, "No.. healing.. it's a.. good.. hurt.. he.. offered." Ikuno nodded in understanding and pushed her ass back to get Kal to continue.

The oni had Kal cum in her mouth, after swallowing some she kissed the golem and transferred the rest to the rock girl, which she seemed to enjoy thoroughly.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Kal, "That should keep us both thinking straight, now back to your story."

Kal recounted his entire experience from the time he woke up until Ikuno came bursting through the wall. When he spoke about his hunger the golem girl pointed to where she entered the room the last time, there were some mushrooms, a small bunch of watercress and some white asparagus lying next to where her feet had been. Kal didn't think it looked very appetizing, especially uncooked, but at least she had been kind enough to bring him some food.

Ikuno was thoughtful as he wound down his tale, "Despite everything, you both may have had a huge stroke of luck."

"How's that?" Kal asked.

"For you, you can collect some of her juices and use them to make your earth-based runes stronger…"

"Wait a minute, why does it always seem like I'm having to collect sex fluids from these women?"

"The book says 'non-waste bodily fluids' so no urine, snot or saliva, which leaves tears, sex juices or blood," Ikuno responded in an exasperated tone.

"Sex juices it is then," he said not wanting to think about someone evil enough to extract someone's blood for something like his runes, granted Ikuno had blooded him twice but both times were spells for his benefit. "Before we go any further why are you so angry with me?"

Ikuno sighed, "It's not you, and to be honest it's a juvenile reason that I should be ashamed of from someone my age. I'm upset that 'Dell wasn't your second" She held up a hand, forestalling any comments from Kal, "Yes, I know it's childish, but I've known Aradelle for a long time and I felt that she deserved to be your second instead of… wait a second. What's your name?" Ikuno asked the golem girl.

She opened her mouth and the sound of grinding rocks came out.

Kal looked at Ikuno, "Did you get that?"

"Nope."

"Try again, we couldn't make it out."

Again, only the sound of grinding rocks came out of the golem's mouth, they could tell it was identical to the first time but still wasn't something the spell could manage.

Ikuno and Kal looked at each other again, "Maybe it doesn't translate?" he asked her.

"That would make sense," said Ikuno, "We can't understand your name is there something you would like us to call you?" she asked the golem

"Met small human named Gerda thought it was pretty," she said in her halting speech pattern

"Would you like us to call you Gerda then?" asked Kal.

"I would like that," said Gerda, smiling.

Ikuno shook her head, "We keep getting off track, as I was saying earlier she can bolster your earth runes, but you can provide something far more important for her."

"Let me guess, children?" Kal said dryly.

"That too, but more important is protection." Kal and Gerda were both listening intently now, "In all my years she is the first golem girl I've seen… alive."

Kal's eyes widened, "How so?"

"Look at her Kal, what on her do you think people would pay bags and bags of gold for?" Ikuno asked him.

The answer was simple, "Her eye."

"Exactly, even before I came to my little cave, wizards, geomancers especially, would pay a small fortune to get a golem's eye. You see, Kal, she can see through stone with that eye, imagine for a moment how valuable that would be. Able to see through city or castle walls during a siege, an assassin could stay safely in another room and watch for their mark. Let's not forget all the perverts watching men and women strip and get it on"

"Well yeah, I can see why people would want them, but it isn't worth killing someone over."

"That's why you're a good man Kal. Unfortunately, not all people are as scrupulous as you. Before I came here every golem I had seen was a corpse and all of them had their eye removed."

Gerda nodded, "Sisters follow smell of man. Go to surface not come back. I was too young, smell didn't affect me. Went to find them. Sisters all dead, eye gone. Many men around, dangerous. Go deep stay deep. Wait a long time, hear booms. Find Kal, Kal is only one man. I take him for husband. But he is strong, throws me across room. He is smart, make me take him back to surface. Kal has other women who call him a good man. I no longer worry if he will keep word and come back."

Ikuno peered at her, "You seem to be taking his 'other women' in stride."

"Strong husband takes care of many women. You needed him earlier and he took care of you. He's a good man like you say."

Ikuno smiled, "Fair enough, sounds like something I would say to be honest." She turned back to Kal, "As you can see she's in danger of being hunted, judging by what we just heard hunters used a trick kind of like what you did in here to lure them out, with her bonded to you she will have no problems resisting another man's scent." Ikuno heaved a great sigh, "then there's the other thing."

"Now we talk about the children I presume?"

"Yep."

Kal groaned, "Okay let's hear it."

"Golems don't reproduce very quickly, from my studies they become fertile again two years after having a child and pregnancy lasts two years by itself, that means a new child at earliest every four years and their numbers were dwindling before I came to this area. Gerda do you know of any other golems in the area and are any of them looking for men?"

"Three, all want a man. They stay deep, afraid of hunters."

"See if you can find them and if you can convince them to make a date with our stud here," she said grinning at Kal, "just make sure they know he will not be their husband." Gerda nodded in understanding.

"So not just helping out horny monster girls desperate to have kids but now you are asking me to help repopulate a species. Hey! No pressure or anything."

Ikuno's face and voice were deadpan, "I love how you act like you aren't going to enjoy every second of it."

"Not saying I won't but you know how I feel about the kid thing."

"Grow the fuck up, Kal," Ikuno said crossing her arms.

"What?!" Kal stared at her, shocked.

"Every time this comes up, I have to listen to you whine about it. I get that you want to be a good father and all but the path you are on just won't allow it. Worse yet is the fact that you consistently fail to understand that monster girls don't need a father for their children the way humans do. What you did for Aradelle is a luxury for them, greatly appreciated but totally unnecessary. Hell, some monster girls get knocked up then eat the father! Are you going to be some type of doting father to an Arachne or Wasp as it hatches inside of your body and slowly eats you from the inside out?

"It's time to figure things out Kal. It's been months since we had that talk on my bed. Either you are going to become a runesmith and accept the sacrifices that come with it or you are going to release both of us and go back home, marry Perra in a couple of months and forget that me, 'Dell, and Gerda ever existed."

"Holy fuck, Ikuno. That hurts."

"It needs to, Kal. You can't have everything, sacrifices need to be made. If you continue walking this path, your idyllic version of fatherhood will have to be one of those. There is simply no way to have both."

Kal stood up from the bed of moss, "I need to think."

Ikuno tossed his pack at him, "Your other vambrace is in there."

Without answering Kal turned about and walked towards the doorway Ikuno made. With a wave of his hand, the ball of light in the middle of the room followed him.

Ikuno made a new light source for her and Gerda as she called after him, "The path should be clear but stop when you see an orange glow, the ledge where you cross the lava is tiny."

Without turning around Kal nodded his understanding and walked into the passageway.

Gerda watched him go, "You hurt him," she said turning to look down at the large blue woman, the golem didn't expect the sight before her.

The oni had her legs drawn up with her arms wrapped around them hugging them to her chest, tears poured freely down the sides of her face.

She looked up at the golem, a look of utter terror in her eyes, "Gerda, I just told him to choose between us and fatherhood." Ikuno took a deep shuddering breath, "What if he chooses to be a father?"

* * *

Kal's heart hurt, it was the only way he could think of to describe how he felt. Ikuno was right, and at the moment he hated her for it, there was no way he could be a father the way he wanted to and still be a Runesmith.

Even though it was before he could remember, his own father's death wounded him deeply. He wasn't envious of children in town who still had theirs or anything, but he would sit and wonder what they might be doing right then if his father had still been alive or what teachings he would he have passed on to his son.

Fatherhood was such an important thing for him growing up. In his teens he would daydream about having sons and daughters running around on the farm. Teaching his sons how to work the land and grow food for their family, running off his daughter's suitors much the way Gran had run off his own father. Seeing his children getting married and his sons striking out on their own path and the pride that went with all those things. How could he give that up? Kal wondered. Ikuno had used the word 'sacrifice,' and the old midwife's words came back to him, 'make it worth it,' she'd said. Was the sacrifice of his idea of what kind of a father he should be really worth it?

Kal had taken his bracer out of his pack and put it on without even thinking, leaving the pack sitting near the cavern entrance. The young mage ran his fingers over the runes, if he continued down this road eventually they would be in his skin not on a piece of leather he had to wear. Even now they felt like a part of him, like some missing puzzle piece that fell into place. So often nowadays he used them without thinking, healing himself when he slipped, or lifting Gerda and throwing her across the cavern, neither time had he made a conscious decision to use the runes. It was more like they reacted to his will instead of his thoughts.

If he was going to be honest with himself, it wasn't all about the magic. The thought of losing Ikuno caused an almost physical pain in his chest, one that he had already felt once and never wanted to experience again. He often wished that his duties at the farm could be passed off so he could spend more time with her, not just in bed either. She was such a trove of knowledge and he loved to learn new things from her almost as much as she seemed to like teaching him. Perhaps, more importantly, it was that he loved one woman he knew that he could never have a child with and there was never any hope of realizing his dreams of fatherhood with. The thing he wanted most she could never give him, yet when they were together he accepted this without question. Would he accept Gerda the same way if it turned out they were incompatible? He knew already that was a resounding 'yes'.

Then there was Eludora, still just a seed but his daughter all the same. By Aradelle and Ikuno's description it would be some years before he would even get a chance to meet her and even then she would have access to all of the knowledge Aradelle gave her so there would be no 'growing up' period. He chuckled quietly as the thought came to him of standing in front of a sapling with a sword in hand and runes flaring brightly as he defended his daughter from some rampaging beast. The image was comical, but he knew if the situation were to ever arise it would quickly become a reality without a second thought. Looking down at his bracers he knew it wouldn't be much of a fight if he stopped where he was now and gave up, the thought of fighting off a rampaging beast wasn't nearly as comfortable when the image was him standing there with a pitchfork.

What about Gerda's sisters' children if he went that route, or if they timed things wrong with visiting the harpy and he ended up having a daughter there as well. Would he visit them? Of course, he would, same as with Eludora. Would he care about them? Again, the answer was obvious. Would they grow up knowing who their father was and knowing that he cared about them even though he couldn't be there with them all the time? More importantly, could he be happy with that as his new definition of being a father and do his best to make his occasional visits with his children memorable? He felt he had his answer to Ikuno's question.

He turned around to go back to the cavern and ran straight into Gerda.

"Ow," he said rubbing his nose where it ran into her forehead. With her drawing power from the ground, walking into her had been very similar to running into a rock wall. "How long have you been behind me Gerda?"

"A long while. Ikuno sleeps. Thought I'd tell you, in case you don't want to wake her. She was very upset. Crying."

Kal glanced down at her feet wondering how on earth she had managed to be so quiet but more important was Ikuno, "Why was she crying?"

"Thought you might choose father over her. Idea hurt her badly. Here" Gerda placed a rocky hand over her heart.

Kal started back towards the cavern, Gerda's footsteps thudding along beside her "Foolish woman, as if I could let her go. She was right though, I've had to change what my definition of being a father is going forward. Giving up such old dreams was hard, but I think Ikuno and Aradelle and you are worth it."

"Ikuno's worth it, you love her. You don't love me, and I don't love you, though I know I'm yours now. Only known each other days, so no love yet."

"'Yet' is the key word there, give it time."

* * *

"Hello, beautiful," said Kal as Ikuno opened her eyes, "I have some bad news," her face just started to cloud up when he said, "You're stuck with me."

"You ass!" she yelled sitting up.

"That was pretty mean of me, but you were being a complete bitch earlier so I'm calling it even."

"So, you got everything figured out?" she asked

"Yes."

"This means you're giving up on fatherhood?"

"No."

She gave him a questioning look, "You're not giving up on being a father?"

"Yes."

"Are you giving up magic?"

"No.

"You're playing some game, aren't you?

"Yes!

Her eyes narrowed, "Do you still love me?"

He thought she had caught him but then he rolled his eyes and gave her a very sarcastic, "Nooooo."

Ikuno kept glaring at him, "Well played."

They both laughed for a moment before Ikuno got serious again, "What have you decided?"

Kal took a deep breath, "You were right I was deluding myself thinking that I could have this perfect father/daughter, father/son relationship like I had always wished my father had with me growing up. The conclusion I came to is that my children will grow up knowing that they have a father out there that cares about them and will visit whenever he can, instead of some nameless dalliance. You said it was a luxury for Aradelle and Eludora to have that. I plan on giving that tiny luxury to each of my children," he said smiling.

"You're okay with this?" she asked suspiciously.

"I had to redefine what being a father meant to me but yes, I'm fine with it."

"If you never get the chance to go back and visit?"

"That would be sad, but they would still grow up knowing that I care about them."

"What about if you have tons and tons of kids out there."

"Easy, we will name them 'Generation Kal'," he said as Ikuno shook her head smiling.

"I guess it's about time to get out of here," said Kal looking about the cavern.

Ikuno looked over at Gerda as Kal collected his pack and cloak, "Could you take us home? The path I used to get here will take many hours and then we will have to cross back over to the south side of the mountains."

"I don't know south, take to surface, point way."

Ikuno spoke as Kal finished getting ready, "If the sun moves from east to west then eep!-"

Once Kal was ready, Gerda took him by the hand then grabbed Ikuno's as she was explaining compass directions and pulled her off the moss bedding.

"Close eyes," she said then all three of them immediately sunk into the ground. They moved downward for just a moment then began moving upwards at an angle, Kal's wonder at the strange feeling of having rock move around his body like water warred with his anxiety at what would happen to him if Gerda ever let go.

The trio rose up out of the ground onto the trail, except for Ikuno whose feet got stuck because she was too tall, Gerda had to leave her feet embedded in the stone for a moment then lift her up by the hips to get the oni's feet free.

Looking both directions Ikuno pointed back towards her home, "We need to go that way, there's a cave by the foot of the mountains, that's my home" she said.

Gerda nodded and took Ikuno's hand but Kal pulled his away, standing off to one side he tried to get his panic and breathing under control. "I don't think I can do that again. I know you are strong Gerda, but what happens if you let go or my hand slips out of yours?" he asked.

"Be calm, I will come back," replied the golem and extended a hand to him, "Won't go yet, take," she said.

Kal hesitantly took the offered hand, the rocky side of her face grew down her neck and made its way down her human arm, as it reached her hand the rocks covered Kal's as well. "Can't let go now," she tugged on his arm, "You will be safe," Gerda said as the rocky hand Ikuno was holding onto did the same.

Kal took a deep steadying breath and nodded. Ikuno, Kal, and Gerda all sunk down into the stone of the mountain once again and through the golem's powers moved through tons upon tons of rock as she took them home.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kal was a panicky wreck by the time Gerda brought them back up onto the trail not far from Ikuno's pool. He had failed to realize that, even though Gerda 'flew' through the stone at a good pace, the trip back to Ikuno's cave would still take nearly a full hour. With no means of communicating with Gerda, he had no choice but to deal with his phobia and wait until they resurfaced.

Once he had gotten his wits about him and recovered from the journey, he explained to Ikuno and Gerda what the issue was. Ikuno's solution was predictable, stripping him down and pushing him into Gerda's arms for a naked make-out session as they sunk down into the stone below. After some time being distracted from his surroundings by dueling tongues and heavy petting with the golem girl, he reemerged slightly more comfortable with the situation. However, Kal still wasn't sold on the prospect of spending hours at a time moving through miles of solid stone. When Gerda agreed to surface every so often, so he could get an occasional breath of fresh air, he was at least no longer terrified of the idea.

Kal was planning on heading straight home as soon as they got back to the cave. Unfortunately, his insistence on leaving disrupted Ikuno's plans. She had hoped that he would be staying for a little bit but couldn't fault him for wanting to rush home with his mother's deteriorating health. Despite wanting to wait for the more familiar surroundings of her cavern, Ikuno took a few moments to describe in detail what had happened up to the point Gerda had disappeared with him. At times the expression on the oni's face had been more telling, and terrifying, than her portrayal of the events. By the time she finished her account Kal was visibly shaken. Once he had collected himself they made their way down the trail.

Kal dug around in his pack for the partially drained crystal as they walked from the pool to Ikuno's cave. The oni had left it in there once she no longer needed it since she wasn't able to charge it at the time. When they reached the end of the trail Gerda didn't want to step off of the mountain onto the dirt and grass so she and Ikuno had stopped there to talk. Briefly interrupting, Kal asked Ikuno if she would refill the crystal. It shone brightly as it recharged with a touch to her horns, once she handed it back to him he was ready to go.

Stamina and Haste runes glowed and spun up respectively on his vambrace as he pointed himself towards home. Gerda's eyes widened in surprise as Kal bent his knees slightly before leaning forward then speeding off to the west.

Ikuno threw an arm over the golem's shoulders, getting one of the slowest startled responses the oni had seen in her life, directing Gerda off the trail and into her cave saying, "So, tell me about these sisters of yours."

* * *

Kal made short work of what was normally a two-hour trek back to his farm. As he approached he let himself slow down by cutting power to the runes. A small racket from inside the barn told him Perra was likely working in there as he jogged the rest of the way to the house.

Opening the front door, he found his mother already standing in front of her chair, having recognized the sound of his boots walking up the front steps. Without speaking he stepped over and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm okay mother, see?" he said as she sobbed quietly into his chest, she responded by giving him a small squeeze. After a few moments, they separated and Kal helped her back into her chair before taking a seat nearby.

"Perra said you were stolen away by a rock golem and that Ikuno was going to rescue you, I'm guessing she succeeded?" his mother asked.

"Mostly, though the golem and I had come to an agreement before Ikuno arrived. She did bring along a translation spell that made communicating with Gerda much easier."

"Gerda? You are on a first name basis with this girl already?" she noted Kal's slight blush and continued on, "I see, you are more than acquaintances, aren't you. How does Ikuno feel about all of this?" she asked.

Kal thought for a moment about the choices he made outside Gerda's cavern. With a sigh, he decided that he could also do away with keeping secrets from his mother about his life outside the farm.

"Yes, that was part of the deal," he said in a level tone. "She would let me go if I promised to come back and see her every so often. Ikuno is from a land far to the east, in her culture, a man having many women is seen as a sign of power and virility, she actually encourages it."

"What about Perra? She's coming of age soon and it's obvious that she has her sights set on you."

"Perra was there when Ikuno told me about how it would be wise for me to build relationships with many monster girls, as it would help me in the long run as a mage."

"Curious, how so?"

"She gave the example of: I could sail out onto the sea, slay a giant squid, then collect its ink or trade some intimate time with a squid girl for ink of roughly the same quality or better."

Kal could tell that his mother didn't fully approve of her son having relationships with multiple women. She sighed and picked up her knitting, "How do you plan on dealing with it if you have children with them?" His mother looked up at his face when he was silent, then brought her knitting needles down to her lap, "Kal… No…"

"Sorry, mother, but the answer is yes, Aradelle and I have a daughter together. If you can't deal with your first granddaughter being an alarune I understand. However, if you are okay with it then I'd like to take you to her little grove in a few weeks when she starts to sprout."

Kal's mother stared at him, blinking repeatedly as she processed everything he just said.

"Sprout? Are you joking?" she asked cautiously.

Kal shook his head, "Not at all, you can ask Perra when she comes in since she was there for the birth. Admittedly, it was a little strange to see my first-born child as a large seed instead of a baby."

"Little?" his mother asked.

"Perhaps that's understating things a bit, but Ikuno has been adamant that I need to be able to adapt to new information and situations quickly once I strike out on my own. Downplaying things seems to help me do just that."

"Really? What other things have you been 'downplaying'," she asked.

Kal sighed, all or nothing he figured, and he was already in this far. The Haste rune on his vambrace lit up and started spinning but he never activated it, "This rune here, is mine. Not 'I drew it' or 'I found it in a book'. To my knowledge, this exact rune doesn't exist anywhere else. Ikuno says that she has never seen anything like it." His mother was staring in wonder at the spinning rune. He had shown it to her before, but it seemed so much more amazing now that she knew her son had constructed this particular piece of magic.

He let her absorb that for a moment before letting the rune fade and speaking again, "The other thing I'm keeping from you…"

Her eyes left the fading rune and met his, "You said 'other' not 'last'," it was a statement, not a question.

Kal nodded, "I won't betray Ikuno's trust, mother, I'm sure she has her reasons for only wanting you to know her name and nothing else. The other thing I'm keeping from you is that Ikuno and Gerda belong to me."

His mother's eyes narrowed, "How do you mean?"

"Exactly as I said, as far as they are concerned they belong to me. I'm still learning how this whole thing works, and to be honest, Gerda was a complete surprise. Between us there is some kind of magical bond that allows me to tell them what to do, to a certain extent."

Kal's mother didn't seem happy with his explanation, her eyes narrowing further, "Sounds awfully close to slavery."

Kal shook his head, "It's nothing of the sort, since I claimed Ikuno she has gone against my wishes many times. When I asked her about it she told me that if she has a good enough reason she could ignore what I told her. This was to keep people from using the bond to force someone to rob a noble or make them strip naked in the middle of town. In retrospect, she did have a good reason each time, I just couldn't see it at that particular moment. The bond really just makes them look out for my best interests and nudges them towards doing what I want without forcing them. So no, it's nothing like slavery."

"Meaning, that you can't tell Ikuno to come here so I could finally meet her."

Kal shook his head, "I could order her to do it, but I'm absolutely certain that her reasons are solid enough that she could just tell me 'no'."

"Hmph," said his mother and picked up her knitting again, but only for a moment before giving Kal a suspicious look. "Why are you telling me all this now?"

Kal took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "I nearly died up on the mountain the day I went missing." His mother gasped. "Ikuno told me the story about what happened after I got knocked out. I'd been ripped to shreds by an exploding rock, had my chest caved in, legs broken, back broken, and head severely messed up. Ikuno managed to heal me but nearly lost her fingers in the process when a lightning bolt struck her healing spell. The way she understands it, the lightning over-charged the healing spells getting me out of danger and partially healing her fingers. She finished them up with this," the healing rune lit up dimly.

Kal stared down at the rune, "I think that was the closest I've ever come to death. Even when Emrick was rearranging my face I wasn't worried that he wanted me dead. It scared the hell out of me listening to Ikuno and hearing the fear in her voice as she described how badly I was hurt. It got me thinking, 'what if I hadn't made it?' If that were the case, someone else would have had to tell you all of this, I didn't want that."

His mother nodded, "Thank you Kal, though I can't tell you how much the thought of losing you terrifies me, I appreciate that you were up front with everything going on in your life. Well… almost everything," she said smiling before going back to her knitting.

The sound of a crash from the direction of the barn, followed by some very unladylike cursing, came through the wall of the house, drawing the attention of mother and son. Kal stood as the complaining got closer, then went over to stand behind the front door as the Perra came around to the front of the house. There was a thump on the front step and Kal could almost see her looking down at his footprint for a moment before figuring out what it meant. Her next few steps across the porch sounded like she was running.

Perra threw the door open to see Kal standing there with his arms open, "Kal!" she yelled and threw her arms around his neck pulling his mouth to hers. Kal stiffened with shock for a moment before putting his arms around her. She had never kissed him on the mouth before.

Perra broke the kiss, "Mygoodnesswhendidyougetbacki'vebeensoworried. Mmph!" she said in a rush before kissing him again. Kal was surprised again as her tongue speared into his mouth but he recovered quicker this time and returned the kiss.

Suddenly, Perra froze. Wondering what was wrong Kal opened his eyes to see her staring at him, her face slowly going more and more crimson as she realized what she was doing. With laughter in his eyes, Kal gently started swirling the tip of his tongue around hers, then flicked it back and forth and up and down before swirling around it again. Perra finally broke out of her frozen state and gave a little shriek into his mouth before letting him go and bolting out the door. Kal hoped her cherry red face wasn't all from embarrassment.

He turned around and saw his mother was attempting to give him a very cross look, but he could see the smile in her eyes. Kal gave her a sheepish grin in return and shrugged before stepping out the door. Pausing out on the porch, he began to set up a plan of things that needed to be done today, he still had a meeting to keep with Aradelle and was expecting to be gone tomorrow and the day after. Stamina and strength runes came to life as he stepped off the porch. Pushing a little bit of power into the speed rune as well he figured he could make quick work of his chores.

Kal was momentarily curious where Perra had disappeared off to, hoping she was having more fun than he was, wherever she happened to be. His little trick had left his trousers a bit on the drafty side. He really couldn't wait till that girl's birthday.

* * *

Since he had worked so hard to get everything done the day before, there wasn't much left for Perra to take care of, so he saddled up Bonn and had the girl climb up behind him. They made their way towards Ikuno's home with only one stop a little way off the normal path, so Kal could show Perra the small mound that Eludora lie beneath. After a couple of pats on the mound and encouraging words from each they hopped back on Bonn's back and continued on their way to Ikuno's.

During the journey, Kal filled the girl in on what had happened while he had been gone as well as letting Perra know that, except for Ikuno's description, he was no longer keeping secrets from his mother. The only thing he left out was that Gerda was bonded to him, he wasn't quite sure how to explain things when the situation seemed to contradict what Ikuno had told them about developing such a bond.

Perra had been looking forward to meeting Gerda ever since she heard about the golem and was disappointed to find she wasn't waiting for them with Ikuno. The oni was standing just outside the cave entrance leaning against the stone wall with a travel pack on the ground beside her. Kal pulled Bonn up in front of Ikuno then him and Perra dismounted.

"Hello beautiful," said Kal, "Are we taking the normal way today?" He couldn't hide the hope in his voice.

Ikuno grinned, "Nope," as she stepped away from the wall, "Your newest woman has a few surprises yet, she appears to be a bit of a geomancer too." The oni waved her hand at a circular rune that had been carved into the rock right behind where she had been standing. Kal stepped forward to inspect it…

"Your newest woman?!" said Perra nearly yelling, "Does that mean what I think it means?"

Kal turned around to see Perra nearly bristling, "Yes it does Perra, for some reason she bonded with me. I didn't want to tell you until I had a good idea how it happened since I doubted you would believe me."

"My explanation is as good as any, right now," said Ikuno.

Kal winced, "True."

Perra was getting impatient, "Out with it! What's this explanation as to how something that is supposed to take ages managed to happen overnight and with the girl who kidnapped you?"

Kal winced again under the young girl's gaze, "Ikuno thinks it's because I was her first."

He turned his head to the side and waited for the explosion. A few moments passed with no answer from Perra.

"That makes sense, some of us girls put a lot of emotion and trust into the person we choose to be our first," she finally said.

Kal looked over in surprise to see Perra standing there staring at him with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Not the reaction you were expecting, Kal?"

"Not even remotely."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. So where is Gerda?" she asked Ikuno.

The oni indicated the carving once again, "Kal, would you do the honors?"

Kal studied the rune for a moment. He recognized the glyph in the middle as Sonor for sound, at the same time he didn't. It was roughly the same shape but not quite what he was familiar with. He ran his hand over the sigil. It wasn't until he thought about the likely purpose of the entire rune that it occurred to him.

"This is for sound traveling through the earth, isn't it? Wait, not the earth, a solid, it's for making a sound in solids. The one I've seen is for making sounds in the air. I'd bet that if I looked hard enough I'd find one of these for water too!" Kal was almost jumping up and down with excitement by the time he finished speaking.

"Settle down my young runesmith, what else do you see," Ikuno asked.

"Direction is straight back, movement and time are tied together so the sound travels straight back for awhile, then… this appears to be an activation sigil?" He looked over at Ikuno, "I don't think we've run across any delayed activation runes in the book yet."

"You won't, I looked through the rest of the book last night. Either the author didn't know about them or it was beyond his understanding when he put pen to paper. At a guess I would say the latter as I can't imagine he would have never heard of it, delayed activation would be extremely handy for making traps and such. Even I have a spell that uses one, though it is somewhat advanced."

"What spell is that?" Kal asked.

Ikuno summoned a magic circle in front of her hand but made certain not to activate it, "It's a Fire Wall spell. You press it to the ground and columns of flame appear in rows out to each side, the delay gives you enough time to step away before it creates the wall."

"That makes sense," said Kal looking between Ikuno's spell and the rune on the rock face.

"Glad it makes sense to you two," said Perra from behind him, "when you get talking like that sometimes it feels like you are speaking a different language. Are you going to call Gerda now?"

"Give him a minute," said Ikuno, "What else do you see Kal?"

"Let's see… 'source' and 'being', so I guess that means the caster. 'Voice'… no, 'speak' then 'name' and 'word' and finally, it has 'merge' in front of this waveform for the outermost circle. It seems odd though…" Kal dug into his pack for his inkwell and, using his telekinesis cantrip, drew out a couple of drops quickly forming them into a floating copy of the rune on the wall.

"If I move these to the center then replace the movement and time with an approximate distance instead, then finally the activation rune," the floating ink moved according to his instructions. Unnoticed by Kal, Ikuno had moved over to stand next to Perra.

"There, that should work just as well. Hopefully a bit better," said Kal as he laid the ink on the rock next to the original.

"Are you sure about that, Kal?" said Ikuno. "Some of these sigils you have never seen before, yet you are playing around with them thinking you can 'improve' them."

Kal turned around to see her and Perra next to each other, a spot in the back of his mind thought it was odd that Ikuno had moved away but he quickly dismissed it. "I think I grasp what the rune is trying to do pretty well. I'm fairly confident this will work." He turned back around and laid his hand over the rune he had made.

As the rune lit up beneath Kal's hand Ikuno nudged Perra to get her attention then silently instructed the girl to take a few steps back and put her hands over her ears. Perra gave the oni a questioning look but did as Ikuno instructed. Kal leaned into the rune and said "Gerda."

The sound was so loud that it blew Kal's hair back as the stone answered, "GGGGEEEERRRR! ddddaaaa." The word growing fainter as it raced off into the depths of the mountain.

"Owwwww," said Kal holding his head and trying to stop the world from spinning. The noise had been so blaring and so intensely deep it made him dizzy, feeling like it had traveled straight to his bones and left them vibrating. About the time he got enough of his wits back to use his healing rune, Ikuno's magic circle appeared next to his face and took care of his aching ears and head.

"Had a feeling that was going to happen," said Ikuno when he could hear again.

"A little warning maybe?"

"Nope. You didn't know these sigils and glyphs as well as the ones on your bracers, yet you thought you could do better without ever seeing how they worked. You were just begging for a lesson in humility. I will give you credit for figuring out how Gerda's rune works without me showing you. Now do the exact same thing with hers." Before doing as she asked Kal took out his inkwell and a piece of parchment, copying the rune for later study. After putting his writing supplies away, Kal placed his hand over the golem's rune and charged it then spoke her name again.

As they waited for Gerda to appear Ikuno said, "She shouldn't be long, she mostly just wanted to hear your voice as you summoned her. Gerda had me do the same last night and told me she would only respond to you and me."

"What about Perra and Aradelle? We trust them," he said looking over at Perra.

"I don't think Perra is an option because she can't be bonded to you the way we can, just not enough natural magic. With Aradelle even once you've claimed her there is still no solid stone around her for either Aradelle to summon her or Gerda to travel through. She can pass through dirt but too slowly to escape any hunters. Don't underestimate her paranoia about being hunted for her eye, she will not take chances."

"She took a chance on kidnapping Kal," argued Perra.

"That was more desperation and opportunity. She's nearly as strong as me, can pass through solid stone, and cover her entire body in an armor of living rock. Make me an ogre instead of an oni and Kal a normal man instead of a novice mage and what danger would we have really posed to her?"

"Fair point," Perra conceded; she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned towards the trail leading up to the shower and pool. "I think she's here."

It was slightly disconcerting to the observers to watch Gerda walk out of the stone trail, like it was actually some trick of the light that this woman was appearing out of solid rock. Kal was pleased to see that she had opted for her more human looking form where the rocky parts of her body were flesh colored and barely thicker than her regular skin. Perra snorted and rolled her eyes as the trail revealed that Gerda had decided to go without her stone bikini, while in Kal's mind her breasts had a rather pleasing bounce and sway as she walked. As the trail dipped below her thighs they could see that the bottom part of the bikini was missing as well.

Kal also took note of a slightly forced sway to her hips, like she wasn't used to walking in such a manner. The motion looked familiar to him, only better suited for a larger body with long legs. He threw a questioning glance at Ikuno who did a poor job of feigning innocence. As the rocky trail dropped below Gerda's knees she stepped out of the rock and onto it, walking the rest of the way down. During her short walk across the grass, she never got outside arm's reach of the stone wall beside her.

Stopping in front of Kal she turned at an angle to him, thrusting her chest out and her hips back she reached up, putting her hands behind her neck then lifting them upward along with her hair and letting it fall back in a continuous sheet as she stretched. Kal knew for a fact he had seen Ikuno do the exact same pose, but it seemed to do a lot more for Gerda's more cushioned body style opposed to the oni's more muscular frame. Looking at him through eyes hooded with desire, she licked her lips and said, "Hello.. Master."

Kal was horribly torn, he knew that she had gone to all this trouble for him and had put on an amazing little display, were it not for Perra's presence and his meeting with Aradelle later he would likely be balls deep in the woman already. On the other hand, everything she had done was straight out of Ikuno's repertoire and in contrast, it was plain to see that she was a rank amateur compared to the sultry blue woman. Perra unwittingly came to his rescue.

"What on earth was that noise that came out of her mouth?" asked the young girl.

Kal and Ikuno groaned and the golem girl visibly deflated as the mood broke.

"Perra!" Ikuno scolded the girl as Kal moved forward to give Gerda a hug, "she worked really hard on that last night!"

"Okay! I get that, and I'm sorry! To be honest it was… pretty sexy. I just wasn't expecting it to sound like Bonn walking across gravel when she talked," she said waving a hand towards the edge of the clearing where the horse was grazing after Kal had startled him earlier.

Ikuno looked over at Kal, "I have one pearl left Kal. Do you think we should give it to Perra or wait and save it for Aradelle?"

"Perra," said Kal holding a very contented looking golem in his arms, "unless something major changes, it's going to be a long time before Gerda and Aradelle meet."

Ikuno grabbed Perra's hand and started pulling her towards the cave, "It's going to take ten…"

"Twenty," said Kal.

"…maybe twenty minutes to get all the components together and get the pearl ready for the translation spell."

"Oh come on!" complained Perra, "it's not like I don't know what they'll be doing out here."

Ikuno rounded on the human girl, "Do you want to stay out here and watch, Perra? Do you want to watch as Kal's hard cock slides in and out of a pussy that was virginal just yesterday?" Ikuno's face was getting closer to Perra's and her voice breathier with arousal. "Because I do, hell, I'll even join in if they want, if not I'll just find a spot nearby where I can watch as they get it on, sometimes it's fun to just watch. Is that what you want Perra?"

Perra's face had gone red but not from embarrassment or anger, she unconsciously was rubbing her thighs together and biting her lip as she cast quick glances over at Kal and Gerda, "Well, um…"

Ikuno grabbed her by the hand and dragged the girl into the cave, "Too bad, you'll have to wait until your birthday," she said laughing.

"Damn you Ikuno!" yelled Perra as she stumbled along trying to keep up with the larger woman's strides.

Kal and Gerda both chuckled quietly at Perra's ranting. He was going to have to do something special for the oni as thanks.

Kal lifted Gerda's chin so she was looking at him, "Your little show was very nice, but I have something special planned with Aradelle today."

"I know," the golem said in her slow, halting manner, "Ikuno's plan to keep you excited for Are-dell," seemed like the translation spell was having a hard time with Aradelle's name.

"Sounds like something Ikuno would do. What about you, how are you doing today?"

"Not sore anymore, want you, but don't need you right now."

Kal smiled, "I can work with that." He turned and gently pushed Gerda up against the stone wall next to them. Kal started by kissing her soundly, his tongue exploring her mouth as she tentatively did the same. Leaving her mouth, he ran his lips across her neck and left a trail of small hickeys as he nibbled at the sensitive skin. Moving down he spent a good amount of time teasing and gently biting at her pebble like nipples, making her back arch as she thrust her breasts into him. Gerda was breathing hard and making small rocking motions with her hips as he teased his way across her belly. He lifted one leg and held it up behind the knee off to the side, his strength rune glowing lightly so he wouldn't tire, and put one hand behind her bottom and tilted her hips forward angling her pussy towards him.

Kal traced the very edges of her folds with the tip of his tongue, making the golem girl reach down and tangle her fingers in his hair while letting out a long moan of pleasure. Suddenly, Kal ran into a problem.

As Gerda moaned in her grinding rock voice the translation spell repeated an emotionless, "Oh," three times in Kal's ear. Kal didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed at the situation, considering where his tongue was he thought it would be prudent to do neither. Instead, he looked up and gave her an apologetic look before raising a finger to her lips. Gerda sighed in acceptance and disappointment, holding her mouth tightly closed as Kal went back to work.

Kal attacked her clit lightly swirling his tongue around it trying to get the mood back, once she was breathing hard and flushed again he returned to teasing her folds. Kal quickly realized this was a very awkward angle for him, it worked much better with the taller oni. He had Gerda turn around and lean against the rock face with her legs spread. Kneeling behind her he brought a hand up to lightly brush her clit as he continued to tease her lips and dip his tongue inside her sex.

Kal learned something very interesting when he decided to take advantage of this position's access to her bottom. As he ran his tongue around her pucker she let out a high-pitched screech from behind her closed lips. He thought since she liked that then perhaps she would enjoy having his tongue a bit deeper, but when Kal pressed against her back door she jerked away making a definitively negative noise. Confused but accepting, Kal went back to teasing the area around her rear entrance.

He was a little surprised at how much she was enjoying this. Even more so when she reached back with both hands, one pushing his hand away from her clit while the other hand went straight to Kal's head. Gerda's fingers flew over her clit as she pulled him hard against her ass, his tongue happily laving her pucker as she raced towards orgasm.

As Gerda came, instead of trying to keep her mouth shut she phased her head into the rock wall and let out a scream of pleasure which to Kal's ears sounded like she was a normal human standing on the other side of a thin wall. Kal continued his attentions to her rear until her hand stopped moving and she pushed him away. Kal felt he honestly deserved some sort of praise for seeing the golem girl through to the end; it's difficult to not freeze in shock when you look over your lovers back and see she's headless.

Kal pulled Gerda's head out of the wall and sat down with his back to the stone face, pulling the golem girl into his lap and cradling her unusually heavy body as her breathing returned to normal. He kissed her forehead as she relaxed against his chest, it was a little odd that her ruby eye didn't close in contentment like the other one.

"I have a question for you Gerda, can you make a facemask out of rock that only covers your mouth?" asked Kal.

She looked up at him and the rocky part of her face returned to its normal thick gray stone before a small section on her cheek grew down and covered her mouth and chin like a stone bandanna, a crack formed in the front as she said, "like this?"

"Exactly like that!" He said getting excited, "now can you speak behind it without moving the facemask?"

The golem girl's face screwed up in concentration as she tried to do as Kal asked but every time she spoke the crack would immediately form and copy her lips. After a number of attempts, she looked up at Kal apologetically and shook her head, the rock mouth covering shrinking back into her cheek before changing back to her more human form.

Kal heard sounds coming from the cave indicating that Ikuno and Perra were on their way back. With a little help from his strength rune, he picked up Gerda and set her on her feet. His own attempt to stand turned into a stumble as he discovered that both of his legs had fallen asleep. Gerda regrew her pebble bikini and the rock parts of her body returned to their normal thickness and gray color as Ikuno and Perra emerged from the cave entrance. The two were treated to the sight of Gerda laughing as Kal hopped about in discomfort from the pins and needles as his feet and legs woke up.

Perra had a short but pleasant conversation with Gerda now that they could understand one another, though the human girl was getting noticeably impatient with Gerda's pausing after each word. Kal and Ikuno spoke for a moment about what he had discovered while she and Perra were inside and they decided it needed more looking into but on another day since they still had an appointment to keep with a particular alarune. Perra went and got Bonn from where he was grazing over at the edge of the clearing then rode him back to the other three who were double checking supplies before they set out.

"Hey Kal," said Perra, pulling up behind him.

Kal finished looking through his pack then stood and turned towards her, "Yes?"

"When I told you earlier not to worry too much about it? I lied," Perra flipped a small white bundle at Kal's head and nudged Bonn into a trot in the direction of the farm. The bundle smacked wetly into his face and partially hung from the shocked man's features. As he recovered from the surprise Ikuno was already laughing so hard she had fallen to her knees and had tears in the corners of her eyes, Gerda was completely bewildered by what was going on.

As Kal reached up to peel the piece of fabric from his face the first thing to strike him was the scent, it filled his nostrils and mouth as he breathed, quickly making his manhood start to grow and press against the front of his pants. He pulled the fabric away and held it up allowing him to make out the two holes that legs would pass through along with the soaked gusset which had recently been pressed up against… suddenly everything clicked into place.

Ikuno fell over with a loud guffaw as Kal held up Perra's panties for a moment before looking down at the front of his now empty trousers and yelling, "Sonuvabitch!"

* * *

Kal, Ikuno, and Gerda rose up out of the mountain trail just a handful of paces from the edge of Aradelle's forest. Kal stepped away and bent over to catch his breath as soon as the rock holding his and Gerda's hands together receded. He glared over at Ikuno who was smirking at him, she seemed to be having no trouble at all with this new method of getting around. He honestly wasn't sure if he was ever going to grow accustomed to traveling through solid rock in such a manner.

As they stepped off the mountain trail Gerda had a new trick to show them, she was standing perpendicular to the ground on the rock wall next to the trail exit, waiting for goodbye hugs and kisses from the two travelers. Her feet remained buried inside the wall and allowed her to glide about on the rock surface. Since she made almost no noise moving this way, Kal guessed this was how she had snuck up behind him on his walk outside her cavern.

Ikuno thanked Gerda for bringing them and cutting hours off their journey and reminded her to go look for her sisters until they came back. Kal remembered to have Gerda ask her sisters if any of them knew of a way for humans to understand a golem's speech. The rock girl had mentioned two of them were older than herself, Kal was hoping one of them might know of a better method than the translation spell.

With their goodbyes said, Gerda swung down like her ankles were hooked on something. For a moment Kal and Ikuno thought she was going to run face first into the wall but she smoothly phased into it, much to their relief.

Hours later they came upon Aradelle's shack with all of their stuff untouched. They had left it days ago, expecting to be back as soon as they planted Eludora. After settling in, Ikuno turned around and gave Kal a searing kiss.

"Something to keep in mind before you make 'Dell a very happy woman, she's more than a woman, she's a part of the land and the food cycle and the environment around this area."

Kal gave her a funny look, "The ecosystem?"

Ikuno palmed her face, "Of course you would know that word," she muttered under her breath. "Yes, the ecosystem, so she can't have the same restrictions starting out that I did."

"My first daughter is a plant girl. I did some reading up," he said first in response to her muttering. "To be honest I didn't know about those restrictions until you brought them up when we first met 'Dell."

Ikuno was lost in thought for a moment, "Hmm, maybe those were placed by me, every other male that has claimed me in the past has had similar expectations."

"'Claimed'… I think I liked it better when you said Gerda and I 'bonded'."

Ikuno put her hands on either side of his head and gave Kal another toe-curling kiss, "You may have bonded Gerda and are about to bond Aradelle, but don't ever forget that you claimed me, and I loved every second of it." Smiling she let him go and stepped back, "'Dell is waiting for you."

"You aren't coming?" he asked.

"Not this time, I'll join you two sometime tomorrow, this is your and her night," she held up her hand when Kal started to speak, "No arguments like before, I'll see you tomorrow."

Kal nodded and stepped out of the little shack.

* * *

Kal cautiously approached Aradelle's clearing, he could hear her speaking with someone. To his surprise it was the butterfly girl again, only this time they were having a friendly conversation. As they spoke Aradelle was going over her petals with a brush held to her hand by a strip of leather that looked suspiciously like the same kind he used on Bonn.

Since there was no argument going on like last time, Kal made his presence known by walking normally through the underbrush the last few paces to the clearing edge. Aradelle and Bea both looked up and saw him, but their reactions were vastly different. Aradelle did her normal bouncing around inside her flower happily, even clapping her hands and momentarily disappearing in a shimmering cloud. In her excitement, she had forgotten she had a brush filled with fine powder from her petals strapped to one of her hands. Bea, on the other hand, was standing like a soldier at attention, her antennae quivering with… fear?... anticipation? Kal couldn't tell just by looking at her face.

"Kal! I'm so happy you're okay! Is Ikki coming?" she asked looking behind him and not seeing the large blue woman anywhere in the woods.

"Nope just you and me for the night, Ikuno was insistent so don't ask me to go back and get her," he said walking up beside her flower.

Aradelle glided over the side of her basin and wrapped her arms around his chest, "I was worried when Ikuno told me you had been stolen away."

Kal kissed the top of her head, "It all worked out for the best, Gerda is a friend now. No, more than a friend, we somehow bonded. I figure I should tell you now in hopes of avoiding the same trouble I had with Perra earlier."

She looked up at him, "How? I only know about all of this from what Ikki told me and by the sounds of it you and I were rushing things quite a bit."

"Ikuno thinks it's because I took her virginity."

Aradelle shrugged and stretched up for a kiss before giving him a quick squeeze and letting him go, "makes as much sense as anything I can think of."

Kal stared at her for a moment, "I'm so glad you are taking all of this so calmly, Ikuno was pissed at me because you weren't going to be the second woman I 'claimed' and Perra was pissed because I took another girl's virginity before hers."

Kal paused for a moment, "It's strange to think of her that way."

"What way?" Aradelle asked moving back into the center of her flower.

"She's been off limits since she moved into my house but in just a little while she will be of age and I've been assured she already has her sights set on me. It's strange thinking of her as this lusty young woman instead of something more like a little sister."

Aradelle giggled, "At least she has good taste. I'm going to finish grooming my petals, I'd just started when you got here so it may be a while. Bea was kind enough to bring me this brush to use, why don't you two chat for a bit until I'm done."

Kal nodded and a startled 'eep' came from the butterfly girl as he turned to look at her, the predatory attitude of their last encounter nowhere to be seen. Though he felt that things had been resolved before she left last time, her insistence on staying put, regardless of her seeming to be scared of him, was piquing his curiosity. Kal slowly walked around the butterfly girl as though a general inspecting a troop. She had her wings wrapped around her like a robe the same way as when they first met. As he stepped around to her front again he leaned in until he was almost nose to nose with the butterfly girl. The poor girl sucked in a breath as he got close, her pupils darted around unsure if she was supposed to stare back at him or if that was being rude.

"You have amazing eyes," Kal said.

Bea exhaled loudly, not having realized she was holding her breath, "Wh… What?"

"Exactly what I said; You have amazing eyes. They really are quite beautiful, especially up close."

"Um, I've never had someone call my eyes beautiful before."

An indignant "Hey!" came from Aradelle's flower.

"You said they were pretty, not beautiful," Bea called out to the alarune.

Aradelle conceded the point but still stuck her tongue out at the butterfly girl before going back to grooming.

"So, what brings you here?" Kal said motioning that she should open her robe.

Her wings slowly unfurled and after a few experimental waves stuck straight out from her back as she said, "Something 'Dell said last time made me feel bad because it was unfortunately true. I did treat her as little more than a food source and now I'm going to try to fix that. Many months ago, I saw a man using this brush on his horse, he hooked it on a tree limb when he was done and forgot about it when his group moved on. Its soft enough that I use it on my wings, I thought 'Dell might like it for her petals as well."

"Next time you need to bring a jar or pot to collect my nectar in and you can take care of my petals, this feels wonderful," said Aradelle facing away from them as she worked.

Smiling, Kal reached out and rubbed the tip of a petal between thumb and forefinger.

"Stop it Kal!" Aradelle said without turning around, "I know it's you, your hands are rougher than Bea's"

Kal chuckled and turned back to the butterfly girl. Stepping off to the side he looked closely at the intricate pattern on the inside of her wings "What's with the tree bark?" he asked. "I wanted to ask last time but got a lungful of dust before I had the chance."

Her face went red with embarrassment, "It's more for my smaller cousins, it helps them hide in the forest."

He walked back around to her front and held out his hand for hers, gulping she lifted her arm. Kal directed her to hold it out straight while he inspected where the chitinous covering bent and where it met her skin just above her elbow, "Is this a part of you or can you take it off?" he asked, tapping the hard coating. Without waiting for her to answer he knelt down then lifted her foot and placed it on his bent knee, so he could continue his examination.

Kal was getting even more curious about the girl. Her entire body was buzzing with either fear or anticipation, perhaps a mixture of both. She acted like she was too scared to move around him, yet the insides of her thighs were slick with arousal.

"It.. It's a part of me," Bea finally answered.

"So, if I do this," Kal ran his finger from behind her knee up to where the chitin ended mid-thigh, "it feels the same as this," Kal reached up to very bottom of her asscheek, only inches away from her sex, and ran his finger down her thigh to the same point collecting some moisture on the way. Glancing up he saw the butterfly girl staring down at him panting. She gasped then let out a slow shuddering breath as he brought the finger shining with her juices to his mouth and sucked it off.

"Now you've done it Kal," said Aradelle from behind him, he partly turned to see her leaning on the edge of her basin resting her head on her arms, the brush dangling from one finger by its leather strip.

"What exactly is that?" he asked.

"Now you're going to have to finish her off. If you'd stopped earlier, it would have been a good tease but sending her away like this would be cruel. Remember, no dick, that's mine today"

Bea whimpered making him turn back and study her face again, he still couldn't figure out the fear in her expression but the need in her voice was apparent.

Kal tapped on the brown-black chitin bodice, "Open up." There were tiny interlocking hooks running down the center along both sides holding it together, her two insect-like arms just below her human ones shifted each side of the bodice slightly to disengage the hooks then moved the halves down and over beside her hips like before.

He swiped two fingers through the wetness on her thighs as he put her foot back on the ground and stood up. Kal positioned himself just off to the side but close enough that her breast was nearly touching him and she could feel his breath on her shoulder and neck. He placed his hand on top of her head, careful not to touch her antennae and hair with the two fingers coated in her juices. He slowly dragged his hand down her face, pushing her head back just a little. As his fingers reached her mouth he slipped the two with her fluids inside, her tongue immediately started cleaning them as they slid in and out of her mouth.

"Remember how that felt when it was my cock in your mouth," he breathed in her ear, making the butterfly girl moan with desire. Kal undid his belt with one hand then took hers and pushed it down the front of his pants wrapping her small fingers around his swollen prick. Kal slid his fingers out of her mouth while she sucked furiously on them, plainly not wanting to let them go. He tilted her chin back further, exposing her neck, then moved his hand down until it came to rest over her throat.

"You made me this way, but today it's not for you," he said, running his tongue along the outside of her ear. "Don't move your hand," he said pulling his own hand out of his trousers and running it up one side of her back along her wing until he had a handful of hair tightly in his grip. Kal moved his hand down to one breast while bringing his mouth down to the other. His fingers harshly pinched and pulled on one nipple as he drew the other one into his mouth and ran his tongue lightly over it in almost a tickling manner. The intense contrast of the two feelings drew out a long breathy moan from the butterfly girl followed by a quick sob of desire and need. Kal ignored her rhythmic squeezing on the base of his cock since it didn't seem to be a conscious decision; looking down he saw her other hand was opening and closing the same way.

Kal moved his mouth up to her neck as his hand left her breast, traveling downward over her belly. When he passed her bellybutton a soft blue hand gently pulled his arm away, getting another quiet whimper from Bea. A moment later his hand was cupping Aradelle's sex as she completely coated his hand with nectar. Flipping his hand and coating the backside as well for good measure, she pressed her lips to his shoulder before she quietly returned to her flower.

Kal gave Aradelle a brief moment to situate herself before curling two nectar-soaked fingers and running the backs of them along each side of Bea's clit, at the same time gently grazing his teeth along the side of her neck. Bea's breath caught in her throat and her eyes stared up into the sky in an unfamiliar moment of panic and indecision; she had a feeling that something big, something important was about to happen but she didn't know what. As Kal rubbed two then three fingers around the entrance to her sex she closed her eyes and nodded her acceptance.

Kal eased two fingers into the woman as he began to suck on a spot on her neck near her collarbone just hard enough to draw her skin into his mouth. His fingers found the small rough spot inside her, but the angle was wrong for what Kal wanted to do. Lifting the unnaturally light butterfly girl slightly into the air it allowed him to tease the sensitive area with his fingers while massaging her clit with the heel of his hand. The movement made her let go of his cock, but Bea shook with excitement at the fact he was holding her in the air by her pussy.

The double stimulation, made worse as Kal added another finger that made her stretch deliciously, was far too much for the butterfly girl's over-sensitized body to take. In what seemed like only a few seconds her first orgasm rocked into her, finally moving on her own she wrapped her arms around his head, holding him tightly to her neck as he sucked harder. Bea screamed her release at the top of her lungs, loud enough to hurt Kal's ears but that didn't stop him from continuing his assault on her g-spot and clit, taking it as encouragement to go faster and increase the stimulation. Her second orgasm came just moments later, punctuated by another ear-piercing shriek and her pressing his mouth into her neck so hard he was sure he left teeth marks even though he never actually bit down. Bea's third orgasm came less than a minute later, by now her screams of pleasure were causing stabbing pains in his one ear.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop," begged Bea as tears ran down her face and her body shook with sobs.

Kal set her down and wrapped his arms around her, nearly forgetting that the woman had a large set of wings attached to her back, putting one arm across her shoulders and the other around her hip, "Why are you crying? Are you okay? Did I hur…"

"I'm fine, just shut up and hold me for a minute," said the shaking butterfly girl.

Kal looked over at Aradelle for some guidance only to find the alarune laying partly on one of her petals with a dopey smile and her hands between her legs masturbating furiously. She saw him looking at her and mouthed, 'that was insane!' before curling up into a ball with a quiet grunt as she climaxed.

Kal was beginning to feel left out. First Gerda this morning and now these two, all while he was still waiting for some alone time with 'Dell.

His eyes widened as he looked down feeling the same swirling magic between him and Bea as he did just before Gerda bonded with him. Instead of accepting it the way he did with the golem he let the moment pass and the magic dissipated. After Gerda, and now Bea, he was beginning to think that this whole 'bonding' and 'claiming' thing didn't quite work the way Ikuno thought it did.

Loud thumping coming from the direction of the shack signaled the approach of the oni he had just been thinking about.

Bea looked up at him with wide eyes and tried to break free of his grasp before Ikuno arrived but Kal just held her tight and said, "Stop it, you'll be fine." The butterfly girl relaxed, but not quite to the same extent as before.

Ikuno crashed into the clearing with a worried expression on her face, immediately calling out, "Is everyone okay! I heard screams all the way back to the road!"

Aradelle was the first to answer, bouncing up from her petal and gliding towards the oni, "Oh my goodness you missed it Ikki! It was amazing! I think I know why you like the whole 'no moving' thing once in a while! I don't know how many times I came before Bea did and then when she did it was so exciting! You were sooo right it is fun just to watch! I mean I've watched you get off plenty of times before, but I was always involved somehow. It was so wild to just sit back and take everything in. If what he did to Bea was anything like when he claimed you, I can't blame you one bit he was just so… powerful and in control, I was completely soaked just watching him!"

Aradelle's eyes suddenly went wide. In her excitement, she had forgotten that the two people she was talking about were standing only a few steps from her flower. She slowly turned to look back at Kal and Bea. With a squeak of embarrassment, she covered her face with her hands and her vines pulled her back to the middle of her flower before dropping down into the chamber below. Seconds later her petals folded up followed by the woody protective leaves. As Kal and Ikuno stared in wonder at each other, two of the leaves and petals opened up enough for a nectar soaked grooming brush to be ejected followed by a squeaky "Thanks, Bea!" before they closed up again.

Aradelle's excitement had let Ikuno know that no one was dead or dying but the alarune's uncharacteristic outburst had stopped her in her tracks. The oni looked back and forth between Kal and the alarune's closed flower, "What the hell just happened?" she asked Kal.

Kal sighed, "Quick version is: Bea was here with Aradelle when I arrived, Aradelle was grooming her petals and suggested Bea and I have a chat, some playful teasing turned into something a lot more exciting, and finally 'Dell went off the deep end in her excitement to tell you all about it. Sound about right?" he said looking down at Bea who just nodded into his chest. "One last thing, and I think this is kind of important, Bea and I almost bonded."

Bea looked up at him, "What?!"

"What?!" asked Ikuno.

"What?!" came a high-pitched voice from inside the pod. One of the petals opened up just a bit to let Aradelle's voice out, "Like hell! That was no 'bonding' that was 'claiming', by the time you got done with her she was completely and totally your woman and loved every second of it!"

A look passed between Ikuno and Kal with how closely Aradelle's comments mimicked Ikuno's own from earlier.

Bea was looking up at him still, "you said 'almost bonded' did you not want me?"

Kal looked down, "It wasn't that, I didn't want to accept before you knew what you were getting into."

"Thanks, I think," she said putting her head against his chest again.

Ikuno had stepped up beside them but dropped to one knee before she spoke "Bea, I have a few questions for you."

The butterfly girl sighed and started to pull away from Kal, only to have Ikuno's large blue hand push her back into him.

"If that's where you're the most comfortable then stay there but I need some honest answers," said the oni.

Bea nodded.

"What do you find most attractive about Kal?"

"His strength, he shook off my dust put me on my knees and made me suck him then punched through a tree… then there was earlier," the butterfly girl shivered at the pleasant memory, "'Dell was right, the way he took control of me, I've never felt so 'owned' before. It was exciting and terrifying all at once."

Ikuno smiled, "I can understand that well enough, what do you think would make you want to have a bond with him?"

"I've had many men over the years but always avoided humans during mating season since none of them felt 'good enough', mostly merchants or farmers, good for a bit of fun but none that I saw as a mate. I came back to ask Kal if he would sire children with me like he did for 'Dell."

"There it is again, I can feel the bond trying to form," Kal told them. "Are you sure you want this?" he asked Bea, "It's possible I may be your only option as a mate for a long time, then again it seems like we are still trying to figure this whole thing out." A woody creak behind him let him know the alarune had come out of hiding. "What do you two think?" he asked Aradelle and Ikuno.

Before they could answer the binding magic vanished, instantly disappearing unlike before when it slowly dissipated. Bea pushed herself out of his embrace, raising her chin in defiance as her bodice clicked back together.

"I'll not allow myself to be passively 'bound' to any man, if you want me, catch me, claim me, prove you are worthy to sire my children," she scoffed before taking a couple running steps in the opposite direction and launching herself into the air.

Kal stood there for a moment dumbfounded before looking over at Ikuno.

The oni shrugged but was trying to hold back a smile, "Looks like you misread her in a big way, that was a hell of a challenge. You know how I feel, the more the merrier."

To be honest, he already expected an answer like that from her, Kal turned to look at Aradelle who was stretched out on one of her petals.

"Guess I can't claim dibs on your dick after she said something like that, the bitch." Despite her words he could tell she was enjoying this turn of events. "If you want her, go get her. I'm okay with being fourth. If you could bring her back here and do it, it would be amazing, I wanna watch again."

Bea had flown over the treetops then turned and began flitting back and forth to stay aloft as she waited to see what Kal's reaction would be. The trees she was flying above made a natural lane that led to a small hill. If he decided to give chase she planned on eventually leading him that hill where he might actually get a chance to catch her.

Kal had put a lot of effort over winter learning to use his runes to his best advantage. Ikuno's words on how magic should augment his natural abilities instead of replacing them had struck a chord in the young runesmith, especially after the first time he used his strength rune to launch himself into the air and came crashing down in the middle of a tree. Since then he had worked hard to hone those abilities, even more so since he created the haste rune. He quickly learned using that kind of speed effectively took planning, grabbing a tree limb or vaulting off a fence at those speeds required reaction times he had not developed yet, as well as improvisation, for when the planning went wrong. While he hadn't honed his skills to a razor's edge in the few months, he'd worked on them; by his estimation he had become quite good.

After his lesson in humility earlier, Kal choked back the desire for some youthful boasting. However, this would be the first time he put these particular skills to a test and he was looking forward to showing them off for Ikuno and Aradelle. He did allow himself a fiendish smile as Strength, Stamina, and Haste runes shined and spun up; he looked at each of the women in turn and said, "Be back in a few," before sprinting off towards the edge of the clearing.

"Oh, this ought to be good," said Ikuno and started making her way after Kal.

"I want to see too," mumbled Aradelle. Smiling she covered one eye with her hand and closed the other, a moment later a small bulge could be seen running down her leg, through the vine and into her body where it was transferred to another vine that stretched off underground in Kal's direction.

She arrived just as Kal finished studying the terrain and took off after the butterfly, in the same moment one of Aradelle's vines burrowed up out of the ground with a strangely familiar iridescent blue orb in the middle of it that quickly turned to see what Kal was doing.

"I didn't know you could do that," said Ikuno looking startled.

Aradelle's voice came from back in the center of the clearing, "I've never needed to do this when you were around!"

Ikuno shook her head and looked out towards Kal and Bea.

Bea wondered if she had made a mistake when she saw Kal's arm light up and he was suddenly standing at the edge of the clearing. When she saw him run in her direction again, her eyes widened in panic as she turned and pumped her wings, trying to get away.

Kal ran straight at the trunk of a tree just in front of the butterfly. With his route upward already picked out, he pushed off the ground, the strength rune lifting him up to the lower boughs. His feet and hands touched branches that sped by him, adjusting his course to a larger branch about two-thirds of the way up. He wrapped his hand around his target and flipped around so his boots came to rest in the crook of the branch he'd grabbed. Picking his next destination across the way, he jumped towards the fleeing butterfly girl.

Bea put her head down into a quick dive as Kal went sailing just in front of her. As she was about to pull up he came flying back at her, forcing her to reverse direction, losing speed and altitude as she flew back the way she came. She angled her wings downward in an attempt to pick up enough speed to stay in the air but had to pull up hard as the green from his cloak flashed in front of her again.

Kal's feet touched down on another tree trunk. Grabbing a large branch just below him he flung himself at the ground, his boots only touching the trunk a couple times as he ran down the trunk before streaking across the forest floor. Skidding to a halt beneath the foundering butterfly girl he crouched and leapt skyward.

Struggling to stay aloft from losing so much speed Bea looked about trying to find him. She shrieked as a hand on her ankle yanked her downward, an arm with glowing runes wrapped around her neck as Kal whispered in her ear, "You're mine."

This insane human was going to kill them both if they fell from this height! Her wings pounded the air, but it was no use, he was far too heavy to keep them both airborne. The natural drag from her wings positioned Bea on top of the suicidal human as they plummeted to the ground.

Kal focused on the strength and haste runes pouring magic into their outer rings, making them shine nearly white. He then pushed the protection from the strength rune into Bea and waited for the impact.

They hit the ground with a loud thump, scattering leaf litter in all directions and knocking the wind out of them but leaving them both unharmed. Bea tried to sit up but found that she was being stopped by arms wrapped around her hips and shoulders.

"You are insane! You could have killed us doing that!" she yelled in his face.

"Hush," said Kal smiling, his hand came to the back of her head and pushed her lips into his. As his tongue pressed into her mouth Bea realized that she wasn't hurting anywhere from the crash. Kal didn't seem to be in any distress either judging by the way his hands were roaming around her body. What kind of a monster was this man to take that kind of drop without injury and manage to protect her from being hurt as well? This latest display of power sent shockwaves straight to Bea's pussy and she began kissing him back with abandon. With her lips still on his she lifted herself up and her bodice came apart with a click before dropping back down and rubbing her sex against the bulge in Kal's pants.

Kal had somehow not noticed this was their first kiss and it had been a bit of a shock to have her thin and nimble tongue start darting about in his mouth. He had been in a lust haze when he first saw it and those memories from before he regained control were still foggy, and when he face fucked her afterwards he had hardly been in a mood to care if she used her tongue or not.

Kal pulled back and saw that Bea was flushed and panting, "Those two asked for a show. Ready to give them one?" he asked smiling.

Bea groaned, "Only if you promise this is going inside me," she said grinding her sex into his crotch.

Kal put a finger to her lips, "It's going in there," he ran his finger all the way down her body, she lifted up a bit to give him access, "In there," he said dipping his finger into her wet and slippery sex then continued back to her rear entrance. Bea gasped as his finger slid around her back door then cautiously poked inside, "And in here," said Kal working just the tip in and out.

Bea rocked back a bit to get him a bit deeper, "You'll be my first man back there," she said breathing heavy.

"But not your first experience, I'm betting."

She shook her head, "More please," she panted. Kal slid another finger into her dripping sex and pushed it into her bottom next to the first. "Just toys," she said, "Lust crazy men have bad aim, having something in there only leaves one target."

Kal reluctantly pulled his fingers out of her ass and sat up, earning a disappointed groan from the butterfly girl. With a little help from his strength rune, he stood up while lifting her up and holding her in the air. With an indignant shriek from Bea, Kal then threw her over his shoulder and gave her a swat on her upturned butt, getting buffeted in the back of the head by one of her wings in return. He tried a new tactic and instead sank two fingers into her pussy and sawed them in and out as he walked back to the clearing. The butterfly's wings vibrated, and she was nearly purring with pleasure the whole trip.

* * *

Ikuno had watched with no small amount of admiration for the man. His movements were nothing new to her but the fact that he had practiced enough to execute them as well as he did was certainly impressive and admittedly watching him run down the trunk of the last tree to get directly beneath the butterfly girl before she recovered was a remarkable feat. At first, she was worried when they came tumbling to the ground, however, she had trained with Kal enough to know that he wouldn't do something that looked suicidal without a plan. Sure enough, Bea popped up a second later and yelled at him, seemingly perfectly fine; her worries evaporated when he lifted the butterfly girl and stood up.

Aradelle was point blank astonished. Having never been out of her grove she knew nothing of the shadow martial arts that Ikuno had been reminded of. For her, seeing Kal move in such a manner was stunning. Being less familiar with Kal's runes than Ikuno she was also a lot more worried when they hit the ground, not being truly satisfied he was okay until he stood up, which seemed to take forever.

Ikuno smiled and walked back towards Aradelle when she saw Kal start coming back with Bea over his shoulder. As she arrived, the alarune was lowering her hand, her iridescent blue eye back in it's proper place.

"Neat trick, weird but neat," said Ikuno as they waited for Kal and Bea to arrive.

"It helps me keep an eye on things out beyond my clearing."

Ikuno snorted and covered her mouth trying not to laugh.

"That wasn't what I meant Ikki! Wait… no… I did mean that. Just not the way I… You know what I meant!" Aradelle huffed crossing her arms.

"Meant what?" asked Kal as he walked up still carrying Bea. The butterfly girl's legs were shaking as his fingers continued to slide in and out of her sex.

"Aradelle was just showing me how she watched you catch Bea and keeps an eye on things around the clearing," said Ikuno suppressing a laugh.

"Ikki!" cried an indignant Aradelle.

Kal raised an eyebrow at the alarune, he was pretty sure there was something he had missed, "How? I wouldn't think you would be able to see much from here."

"I'll tell you about it later, wasn't there something you two were doing?" Aradelle said looking over at Kal and Bea. She and Ikuno seemed to be paying particular attention to Kal's still moving fingers.

Bea was a quivering mess and wondering if they were ever going to shut the hell up. Kal's fingers hadn't stopped the entire time and she was biting her knuckle to keep from moaning constantly. As he set her down she immediately sank to her knees in front of him.

Kal looked down at her and began undoing his belt, "Last chance to run away, once I get these off you're mine," he said.

She answered him by looking into his eyes and smiling, then opening her mouth.

"Good girl."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"So, how does it feel?" asked Aradelle, lying with her elbows on one of her petals with her chin resting on her hands. A stray breeze shook the white and blue petal but Aradelle never moved, held up by the two thick vines coming from the center of her flower that turned into her legs. Where those legs met an occasional drip of her clear nectar fell to the petal and ran back to the middle of her flower.

"Not much different really," said Bea sitting nearby and casually playing with Kal's hair since he had decided to use her lap as a headrest.

Kal chuckled, "All that work chasing and catching you and all I rate is 'Not much different'? Guess I should have tried harder."

"Not quite what I meant," said the butterfly girl smiling down at him, "I was expecting some big personality change like I would be slavishly devoted to you now, but I really just feel like me."

"You honestly thought that and still gave yourself to me?" said Kal looking up at her with disbelief.

Bea's cheeks reddened, "Strength turns me on, it makes me feel secure and protected, combined with no longer needing to worry if my children would have a worthy sire and you being a fantastic lover. Yes, I was willing to take the chance you were as good a human as 'Dell makes you out to be."

Kal shook his head, hardly believing that she would have so much faith in him. He looked over at Ikuno; Aradelle had raised the petal and protective leaf next to her so the blue-skinned oni could sit down and lean her back against it. She was currently trying to clean the remaining nectar out of her cleavage by pushing her ample breasts up and using her long tongue to get at the residue.

"Is that how it was with you, Ikuno?" he asked.

The oni froze with her tongue down in between her breasts and looked up at him, "Nuh-uh," she grunted and went back to cleaning.

"What was different?"

Ikuno smacked her lips a couple of times and looked at Aradelle, "why must you always make such a mess?" she said smiling.

"You love my taste, almost as much as you like Kal's," the alarune teased.

Ikuno looked over at where Kal was lying naked on the grass, her eyes flicked from his face to his groin and a low rumbling growl could be heard deep in her throat as she stared at his limp penis like a tasty treat.

Shaking her head, she blinked a few times and looked back up, "What was that again?"

Kal stifled a laugh at how someone so intelligent and capable could be so single-minded at times, "What was different between Bea's reasoning for giving herself to me and yours?"

"Obviously not because you were stronger than me," she teased.

Kal rolled his eyes, "Obviously."

"Hmm… You braved my cave even though you thought I was an ogre for the sake of your mother," she said ticking off her fingers. "You came back to become my servant out of a sense of duty. You took Perra in and gave her a home. All signs of a good person to be sure, and good enough reasons on their own, but none of those were the reason I gave myself to you." She quit talking to Kal and instead got the other women's attention, "So, this brave soul darkens my door for the second time, thanking me and talking about duty and whatnot. I called bullshit and told him all of this 'servant' nonsense was just him trying to get that in here," she said pointing at his cock and her pussy. "We go and have our fun, which I will say was pretty good being before your compatibility spell and all. As we get done, three knights show up at my doorstep astride their warhorses, hollering about Sir such-n'-such, whom I supposedly killed."

"It was Sir Michael, and you did," said Kal raising an eyebrow.

"Hush, the guy was a maggot and got what he deserved for what he did to Perra, now let me continue." Looking back up at Bea and Aradelle she went on, "One of the knights is a young horses ass begging for a fight and draws his sword, pointing it at me. If you want to know the moment I started to love Kal, though I didn't fully realize it at the time, it was immediately after that man started waving his sword at me." Butterfly and alarune were hanging on the oni's words while Kal was desperately trying to remember what had happened that could have been so significant to Ikuno.

"This idiot," she nudged his leg which was just barely in range of her foot, "dressed as some bumpkin farmer and having zero combat skill, steps right in between me and the point of the sword ready to defend me from three trained and armored knights." Her voice softened, "They would have cut him down in seconds, yet he was still more worried about defending me than his own safety. Months later he told me he loved me and that memory came back along with every little thing he had done since to make me happy, even swearing he would give up magic. It felt like I had been struck by lightning." She looked up at Bea and Aradelle, "I already knew I loved him before then, but it wasn't until he said it that I realized just how long he had cared for me and later loved me. Giving myself to him was just taking the final step."

"I think I might be a little jealous," said Bea smiling down at him, "He just chased me around a bit then fucked me into submission."

Ikuno gave her a fierce grin, "Make no mistake he did the same to me just without the chasing and catching part."

Bea looked down Kal's body then looked Ikuno up and down, "No offense Ikuno, but how does that work between you two? I'm not trying to insult you or anything! You have to admit though, there is quite a size difference."

Ikuno looked at Kal, "I could tell her, but would you like to show her instead?"

Kal thought for a moment, "Sure, but let's see if I can get hard again. It'll be more noticeable that way." Bea was giving them both confused looks as Kal sat up and directed her to get on her knees in the same spot, lying back down on the grass he put his hands on her hips and pulled her down onto his face. Kal took a couple of deep breaths through his nose taking in her scent before languidly running his tongue along her lower lips. Bea shifted and got comfortable; he seemed to be avoiding her clit, but that was okay, despite where all the action was taking place it was almost more like a massage, meant to caress and comfort. Bea closed her eyes and sighed in pleasure from the feelings Kal's tongue was giving her, but there was no ramp-up in intensity or race towards release, that lack of tension made the experience feel extremely intimate.

Kal was also enjoying himself, he had yet to go down on a woman when he hadn't liked her taste and Bea was no different. Her scent was far lighter than any of the other women he had been with, a faint sweetness to it that he assumed came from her diet of largely nectar. Her juices also had a very faint flavor as he gently ran his tongue along her labia, almost floral but it came across as more of an aftertaste. Bea's fluids were extremely slick, to the same degree as Aradelle's nectar, so little friction made it sometimes feel like her sex was composed of water shaped into a pussy. Kal continued to softly pleasure the butterfly girl for many minutes after he heard her sigh, until he felt his cock start to rise.

"There we go," said Ikuno sitting up and moving nearer.

Kal had Bea scoot back a bit so he could raise his head up, looking down he could see that his prick was now standing proudly but still sized for Bea.

Ikuno came over and straddled his knees, "Watch," she told the butterfly girl. The oni moved up his thighs until her pussy came to rest right against the base of his cock, then said to Kal, "Come on, Kal. I want you to fuck me hard and fill me up."

The images that sprung into Kal's head were enough to trip the enchantment and Bea gasped as his cock lengthened and expanded to fit Ikuno's dimensions.

"Didn't you wonder how he managed to fit you so perfectly and rub all of the right spots inside? That's why, his cock is enchan…ted… Bea?" Ikuno was looking worriedly at the butterfly girl, Kal looked up and saw that her mouth was hanging open as she stared at his prick in wonder.

She suddenly looked down at him, her eyes wild with excitement "Don't stop thinking about fucking Ikuno," she ordered him, "no matter what you feel its Ikuno fucking you. Got that?" Bea leaned over top of him, obstructing his view and placing her now swollen and dripping pussy just above his head. Kal was pretty sure it hadn't looked like that a few seconds ago.

"I don't think it works like that," said Ikuno in a stage whisper.

"Maybe not, but I still want to try," responded Bea, "'Dell? Could I get some nectar, please?"

"You're insane Bea, but this will be amazing if it works," said Aradelle and Kal heard gulping noises from the girl above him.

"The enchantment is supposed to protect the woman from getting hurt, I'm going to trust that to keep you safe, or I'd never go along with this," said Ikuno sounding vexed. Kal felt her nectar slickened hand run up and down his shaft a few times, then laid it down almost on his belly.

As lips closed over the head of his cock, Kal tried desperately to hold on to the image of Ikuno's mouth slipping over his glans and ignoring that the actual mouth was plainly far smaller. He thought she was done when he bumped into the back of her throat but after a slight gag and three swallows the head of his cock finally started sliding forward again. Bea's pussy was right over top his face now and still moving as his prick slowly crept down her nectar slickened throat. Even with the lubrication, it was painfully tight but exciting enough that Kal didn't tell them to stop.

About the time he started wondering what kind of lung capacity this girl had, a strange noise came from both sides of her body like air being expelled then drawn in. Kal put a hand upon her side and felt streams of air every time she exhaled and a slight suction with each inhale, she was breathing through a row of tiny holes running down each side of her torso.

"Whoa," said Aradelle and Kal could hear the wonder in her voice.

"Okay, now I'm the jealous one," said Ikuno, he felt the butterfly girl attempt to smile around his oni-sized dick.

All the while Bea continued swallowing his cock in tiny increments, her throat was so tight Kal honestly wondered how he wasn't hurting her. Like Ikuno, Kal was putting his trust in the compatibility spell to not let her get injured. Bea's chin began dragging against his pubic bone, stopping her from going any further. Ikuno decided to go with the moment and got off his legs. Spreading them apart she lifted them by his knees and pushed forward, rocking his hips upward and lining him up so the butterfly girl could take the last couple inches of his enlarged prick. Those last few inches took forever to Kal and the pressure from her throat was beginning to exceed what he was comfortable with.

When her chin touched his crotch again Ikuno tried to help by adding a tiny bit of back and forth movement.

Kal groaned "It's too tight, I don't think I can come." Though Kal couldn't see it Ikuno nearly laughed at the disappointed look that flashed across the butterfly's face. Someone had been wanting to feel him shoot straight into her belly, not that the oni could blame her.

Kal quickly realized that although he was unlikely to get off, that didn't mean Bea had to go without as well. He pulled her hips back down to his face and began to worry her hardened clit with the tip of his tongue. Bea's body bucked as he touched her pearl but there was no expected shriek of pleasure just a louder exhale from the tiny spiracles on her sides.

Kal pulled back for a moment, "'Dell she needs to be filled," then sucked Bea's entire clit into his mouth getting another blast of air and rippling through Bea's abdomen.

"Got it," said the alarune and a couple of moments later a nectar coated vine appeared above him, the end shrinking down to roughly match the normal size of Kal's penis. "You'll have to guide it in. This is just too wild to stop watching," came her voice from somewhere up by Bea's head.

Kal did as asked and reached up and guided the tip of the vine into the butterfly girl's dripping pussy, Dell's nectar hardly mattered with as wet as she was. The vine began pumping almost mechanically as he went back to giving her clit a good tongue lashing. Within a minute Bea's body tightened up once again, rippling waves running along her torso. Kal stopped along with Aradelle's vine

Kal heard Ikuno say, "Are you…" from down between his legs, Bea made a motion with her hand. "Keep going Kal," she called out to him a moment later as the vine above him began to move in and out once more.

Kal attacked Bea's pearl with a vengeance, sucking it into his mouth and switching between swirls and flicks with his tongue. Her body jerked once, twice, then the vine slipped from her pussy as she started frantically rubbing it up and down his entire face, pulling her clit out of his mouth and completely soaking him with her juices. After a few seconds, she went limp on top of him, her throat still impaled on his oni-sized prick.

"She's done, Kal, she's out cold," said Ikuno as her and Aradelle stared in awe at the unconscious girl. Bea's look of determination as she slowly swallowed the entire shaft had been replaced by pure joy when Kal had started licking her, heightened even further when Aradelle's vine started working her pussy. When her last orgasm crashed into her the look on her face was caught somewhere between exquisite pain and sheer ecstasy for those few seconds before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out, her mouth still obscenely stretched by Kal's cock.

Kal concentrated for a moment and his penis quickly shrank to normal size as it slid out of the tight confines of Bea's throat. He had been wondering how his prick had managed to stay hard the entire time and realized that the reason he had stayed hard… was that he hadn't. Her throat had been so constricted around his enlarged cock the tightness alone had kept him there. With her head no longer being held up by his cock, Kal also discovered, to his dismay, that while Bea was out cold she couldn't wrap her lips around her teeth and they scraped along the underside of his dick as it slipped out of her mouth.

Ikuno put his legs back down and he felt a twinge in his lower back from being in such an unnatural position for so long. He had no doubt he made Bea happy, but it would take some serious wheeling and dealing on the butterfly's part if she ever wanted a round two. The things he did for his women.

Ikuno cast the dulling spell on her claws and lifted Bea off him. Kal finally got to see the tiny holes on her side, now that she was breathing through her mouth and nose again they were quickly closing up one after the other, leaving no trace they had ever existed. The oni then carefully draped Bea's wings over her body in her normal robe configuration.

Picking up her discarded clothing and cradling the butterfly in her arms, she turned and smiled at Kal and Aradelle, "I have to give the girl credit. I didn't think she could do it, I'm amazed anyone her size could take a cock meant for me down her throat."

"Hey now!" said Aradelle looking indignant.

Ikuno glared at her, "You don't count, not everyone can rearrange their body like you."

Aradelle giggled, "I suppose I can concede this one, plus I don't think I could ever achieve the same kind of experience she did. That look of rapture on her face before she passed out, just wow."

Ikuno chuckled at the reverent look on Aradelle's face, "I'm going to take her back to the shack so she can recover and maybe see if she's interested in putting that long thin tongue to use on me instead of leaving me to my fingers for the night, that whole situation was so intense I didn't even have a chance to notice how worked up I was getting." She bent down and gave them both goodbye kisses then made her way to the edge of the clearing.

Kal stood there for a long moment watching her go before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Are you okay, Kal?" asked Aradelle gliding up next to him on her vines

"I think Ikuno said it pretty well, that was intense," he looked over at the alarune, "I know what can make me feel better." He took Aradelle's face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, their tongues exploring each other's mouths as he wrapped his arms around the petite alarune and she hugged him tightly back.

When he broke the kiss Aradelle looked up at him with surprise, "Ready to go again so soon? Not that I'm complaining."

Kal laughed, "Actually, no. These last few days have gotten so far off track with Gerda and Bea that I think I have been missing some actual lovemaking with either you or Ikuno. I feel the connection with them and have a great deal of affection for them already but it's not quite the same as with someone you love."

Aradelle raised an eyebrow and one of her vines hovered over her shoulder pointing at his face, "If you are wanting lovemaking then better quit saying stuff that makes me want to puff you and pounce on you."

Kal ignored the vine and kissed her again with much more passion this time.

"Dammit, Kal! Make up your mind!" she growled at him when he finally let her go.

Kal's face was a mask of innocence as he raised her up by her hips, "But I have made up my mind, 'Dell. I'm just thirsty."

Aradelle glared at him, "you bastard," she said her face taking on an embarrassed expression even as she lifted herself up the rest of the way and spread her legs in front of him.

As fun as their little game was, he was indeed parched. His other options were to hike back to the shack where he had accidentally left his waterskin earlier or to make a similar hike to a local stream. Using the speed rune he could make short work of either, but this way was more enjoyable, and he didn't have to get dressed.

Once he had slaked his thirst he gave her one last long lick from bottom to top before stepping back. "Mmmmm, delicious," he said smiling at the alarune as she reoriented herself. He had tried to not stimulate her too much, after all, he was just needing a drink, but she seemed far more flustered than he expected as she stood back up and glided over next to him again.

"Sorry 'Dell," he apologized, "I was honestly trying to not get you too worked up right now, I really do need some time to recharge from earlier."

"Not your fault, Kal," she said rubbing up against him, "There's a special feeling I get when someone drinks from me like that, as though I'm fulfilling a purpose. Give me a minute, it won't last long now that you've stopped."

"I've learned so many new and fascinating things about you these last few days, it's made me wonder how well I actually know you," he said looking down at her.

Aradelle gave him a hurt look, "that's a mean thing to say after you told me you love me."

"Not quite what I was getting at, I do still love you 'Dell. I just realized that I want to know more about you. Let me find a place to get comfortable and I'll explain better," Kal stepped over to the basin of her flower and looked inside the bottom that was pretty well coated with nectar from Aradelle's and Ikuno's earlier activities. Kal frowned.

"Hold that thought Kal," Aradelle said before moving to the center of her bloom and pulling all of her vines in before closing up her petals and leaves. The two woody leaves closest to him opened partway and Aradelle's face appeared between them.

"This will take a little while, could you get Bea's brush and get it washed as I clean up a bit. Thanks!" A moment later she was gone and strange noises began coming from inside the flower.

Kal groaned and started dressing, this had been the reason he got a drink from Aradelle in the first place, so he wouldn't have to do this.

"Ew," said Kal as he picked up the brush that Aradelle used earlier on her petals. Before she threw it out of her flower earlier she had dropped it into the nectar that collected in her basin, she apparently wasn't kidding about how good brushing her petals felt. Throwing it out onto the ground and allowing it to dry for the last few hours had turned it into a mess with all of the soft bristles now glued together with sticky nectar that was now covered with dirt, leaves, and sticks.

Resisting the urge to go check on Bea and Ikuno, and pick up his forgotten waterskin, Kal turned west and began walking towards the stream.

Kal hung the brush on a tree branch to dry and made his way back into Aradelle's clearing. She was standing in the middle of her flower again waiting for him with a big grin on her face.

"All cleaned up! Now you can get in," she said happily as he approached.

Kal stepped up to the side of her bulb and slipped one foot out of his boot then stepped over the side and into the basin.

Aradelle pouted, "You're keeping your clothes on?"

"That stream must be fed by the mountain," he said shaking off his other boot next to the first and stepping fully into the basin, "the water was ice cold and I got a bit chilly trying to wash Bea's brush. Did you know that when you leave your nectar out and let it dry in the sun until it becomes sticky then plunge it into cold water it turns gooey and almost hardens? Next time I'll make a campfire and warm up some water to wash it instead."

"You appear to have put a lot of thought into this. Are you expecting to be washing out that brush every time you stop by?" Aradelle asked, smirking.

Kal paused, "Well… No, I suppose not, but it was a pain in the rear to clean so I wanted to say something." He sat down on the rigid side of Aradelle's flower, leaning back as she brought her petal and leaf up so he could recline against it. She was even kind enough to snake one of her vines around and create armrests for him.

"Well, if you decide to make a campfire do it well outside my clearing, I don't want any of my vines getting burnt."

"This is comfy," he said settling into her makeshift chair, "I actually hadn't given any real thought to making a campfire, but I will keep that in mind. But it brings me to something I wanted to ask you. how far do your vines go out? When you grabbed Ikuno that one time I thought that was about your limit, but you managed to get one out by the edge when I was chasing Bea."

"I have a lot more than these two, Kal," she said waving at him with one and pointing at the other that he was using as armrests. "The rest come out from my lower body and stay underground unless needed." She held out a hand, "would you like to see?"

"Just as I was getting comfortable too," he said laughing and allowing her to pull him to his feet.

Aradelle smiled then directed his eyes downwards, "Step on the vines," she said.

Kal did as asked and the vines wrapped once around his foot then again around his leg just above the ankle. Suddenly he was being lifted into the air with Aradelle right next to him, at a guess, they stopped at about the height of the two-story inn back in Telsin. As he looked out a ring of vines began popping up along the outer edge of the clearing, roughly far enough apart that Ikuno could have laid in the gap between. To his surprise, a second row appeared partway in and then a third even closer finally four thicker ones pushed up from the ground only a few paces out from her flower.

Looking at all of the pointed vines surrounding him and barely sticking out of the ground he said, "it feels like I'm in the middle of a great maw with green teeth on all sides of me," he joked.

Aradelle gasped and Kal looked down at her, the hurt expression plain on her face as tears started to form in her eyes.

Kal reached out and wrapped her in a hug that she tried to pull away from, "Dell I'm sorry! What did I say?"

Aradelle relaxed into his arms as she brought them both back down. "Damn you, Ikuno," she muttered, "you should have told him."

"Told me what, 'Dell?"

"I'm guessing that you haven't read anything on alarunes," Kal shook his head, "if you had this wouldn't be necessary."

"I read up on a subject called botany over winter because I knew we would be planting Eludora in the spring, but it mentioned almost nothing about any plant type monster girl other than saying most of them should be avoided."

"Avoid with good reason if you come to us meaning harm, Kal, most plant girls are carnivores."

Kal struggled to hide his shock, "Meaning…"

"Yes, I am too."

"But I'm not on the menu."

"No, and you never will be, even if you begged."

Kal blinked, "Why on earth would I beg?"

Aradelle tapped her head, "I have hundreds of years of memories up here from my ancestors, let's just leave it at: some humans are impressively weird. If you want to know more, ask Ikuno's pitcher plant friend, I can almost guarantee you'll regret it."

"Well, if I'm not on the menu then out of curiosity how does it work?"

Aradelle looked at him in shock, amazed at how calmly he was taking this news.

Kal read her expression and said, "Ikuno and Bea have known you for years, if I'm not on the menu then I'm not going to sit and worry about it. Though I am curious, have you killed humans before?"

Aradelle nodded, "In my defense, they were all bad people. Normally men are too valuable to us to kill, but this was a big group of bandits that set up camp in my clearing. Tent stakes and poles being shoved through my vines while they built a huge bonfire almost on top of me. Then I hear that they are planning to stay for a while and use my clearing as a base to launch raids on travelers using the road.

"That night I killed them all, partly for being bandits and assholes but mostly for hurting and damn near cooking part of me. So, I waited till they fell asleep and took care of them all without a single peep or word of warning from any of them."

Kal looked around the clearing with a doubtful expression, "Please forgive me 'Dell but you could fit a small army in here, I can't see how you would manage that."

She giggled, "I wasn't this big then only out to the second ring."

Kal looked down at his feet, "Does this mean I'm standing in your mouth?" he asked remembering the chamber below him where Aradelle kept Eludora last visit.

The alarune gave him a sultry look, "I can think if more fun ways to have you in my mouth."

"Much as I love blowjobs, we were just talking about you killing bunches of bandits. Not really sexy talk there."

Aradelle thought for a moment, "Good point. Sadly no, although I do have a mouth of sorts down there," she said indicating the hollow area below. "I absorb bodily fluids through my vines then as the bodies decay my roots take up the nutrients. My clearing was a very unpleasant place for quite some time, but they did help me expand out to where I am now."

"How did they not notice your flower?" asked Kal as he sat down again, Aradelle quickly reformed his chair before gliding over to sit in his lap and leaning her head back against his chest.

"I hid underground when I heard them coming, a band that large doesn't move quietly. This whole top can sink into my belly, as I call it, all I need to do is throw some dirt over myself and you'd never know I was there other than a brown spot in the middle of the clearing. Unfortunately, they felt that the spot without grass was a nice place for their bonfire.

"After they had their big party talking about all of the riches they would get and women they would enslave and sell. They finally started heading off to their bedrolls. I took out the night watch first then went tent by tent until only the leader and his sex slave were left. I took the leader but left the slave, figuring she was an innocent." Aradelle hung her head at the memory, "I didn't think about what it might do to her. I was waiting for her to leave before feeding, but when she woke up the next morning and found everyone dead, her mind snapped. I truly felt bad for the girl. Had I known, I would have taken her along with the bandit leader. When she started doing things to the leader's body trying to get him to wake up, I knew she was gone. All I can say in my defense is that I made it as quick and painless as possible.

"I'd left their horses and hounds, releasing them the next day. The horses ran off, but I didn't get so lucky with the hounds. The dogs were loyal to their handlers, sniffing their bodies before moving on, but as soon as they began getting hungry they started eating the corpses of other bandits. At that point it felt like they were stealing my food, so they had to go as well.

"It took me days to get rid of all of their junk and get my clearing back to normal and weeks after the smell of decay dissipated before game started traveling through once more. Not that I was needing any at that point it was a very long time before I had to eat again."

"Is that what you do now? Take wild game?" Kal asked.

Aradelle nodded, "A good-sized deer will last me about a month. Now that I have you," she rubbed her butt on his crotch, "even the deer should be safe for a long while."

"Is semen really that potent?"

"Absolutely! It carries a bit of your life energy in it. What you gave me the other day was enough to sustain me for months," she rubbed her butt on him again, "and I'm lucky enough to be getting some more of it later."

"Speaking of getting more, what did Ikuno mean when she said you could rearrange your body?"

"Exactly that, this is my avatar," said Aradelle indicating what was currently sitting in Kal's lap. "My true body is down there," she said indicating what lay below her basin again. "I can make changes to what you see up here with little effort. Unless it's mating season then I'm either carrying an egg up here or I'm carrying a seed and I can't change anything until I've given birth or the season has passed," she said holding a hand over her midriff.

"Interesting, would you mind showing me?"

"What would you like me to do?"

Kal hadn't thought that far ahead, "Ummm, maybe what Ikuno was talking about?"

Aradelle glided up out of his lap and turned around, "in order to do that properly I'll need you to lose the pants and get hard for me."

Kal looked down at his groin, "Something else perhaps, and save that for later I think. I'm enjoying our talk."

Aradelle pouted, "Can't blame a girl for trying," she said before the maw in her basin opened up and she dropped down inside. Though muffled, Kal heard the faint sound of rippling book pages from down below. Moments later Kal's eyes widened in surprise as Aradelle rose back up in front of him.

Gone was the petite, elfin alarune with slim hips and small breasts. Replaced instead by a tall voluptuous creature with a slim waist, wide hips and an impressive set of breasts. Aradelle turned about and shook her plump ass at him, throwing smoky glances over her shoulder. Kal really did want to wait but a sudden thought made him wonder what it would feel like to have those wonderful looking tits wrapped around him. Kal shook his head multiple times trying to dispel the image and keep his composure.

Aradelle mistook his actions for distaste, "You don't like how I look?" she said sounding truly disappointed.

"I like it quite a bit, but your breasts are a bit distracting. Can't seem to get the thought out of my head as to how they would feel wrapped around me."

Aradelle lifted up her large breasts and inspected them, "One of the problems with using aphrodisiacs with mating, not much chance for variety. Is that something human women do very often?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest, I thought Ikuno was going to do something like that once but changed her mind for some reason or another. I'd love to play around with this curvy thing in front of me someday, however, today I'm here to be with Aradelle and right now it 'feels' like I'm with a totally different woman."

"Awww, that's sweet of you. I have to agree with you that I don't 'feel' much like me at the moment. Alarunes choose how we look when we get old enough to make an avatar. Once we make that choice, looking like anything else feels unnatural. Give me a moment." She said disappearing below once again.

Back to her usual body, Aradelle popped back up and came over to Kal where he was reclining, sitting in his lap again and leaning back against his chest. Kal's hands came up and gently played with her small blue nipples.

Aradelle sighed in pleasure, "Missing the other ones already?"

Kal chuckled, "Nope, nipples are just fun to play with."

"You are going to need to lose the pants if you keep doing that or they're going to be soaked soon."

"Fair enough," he laughed and wrapped his arms around the petite alarune. Her leaf tilted back further and Aradelle flipped over in his arms lying on top of him with her head just below his chin. Kal stroked her back for a few minutes before the day's exertions and Dell's comfortable presence helped him drift off.

A few hours later Kal's eyes slowly opened. He was still in the same position he had drifted off which seemed odd until he noticed that his arms were being supported by aradelle's vines, keeping them wrapped around her as he napped.

Aradelle snuggled into his chest as she felt him wake up, "Welcome back sleepyhead."

Kal smiled down at her, "I could get used to waking up like this."

The alarune nodded, "Me too, especially if you get like this every time you wake up," she said rubbing her inner thighs against the cloth of his trousers covering his erection.

Kal laughed, "Much as I would like to give you credit for that, it's a sign I need to take care of some other business," he said lifting her off him and swinging his legs over the side of her bulb to put his boots back on.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nature is calling, I'll be back in a minute," said Kal giving her a kiss on the cheek and jogging out to the edge of the clearing.

Kal noticed that the temperature was dropping quickly now that the sun had disappeared behind the trees, that was probably what had woken him up. This early in the season it wasn't unheard of to wake up to frost in the mornings even though the days were nice and warm. He was curious what Aradelle had planned for the night since Ikuno had been insistent that he wouldn't be needing a bedroll.

Aradelle was giving him a strange look as he came back, "Why on earth did you go out way out there instead of doing that here?" she said waving at the ground in front of her.

Kal blushed, "Well, honestly it would have felt like I was pissing on you."

Aradelle made a motion like she was rolling her eyes, it was hard to tell without irises' or pupils. "Being fucked by a man who is lust-crazed comes with all sorts of issues, some worse than others. Since you will be spending the night with me and I'm sure you neither want to get dressed every time or go running about in the cold just use this instead," an opening appeared on the end of one of her vines that looked just large enough for him to fit his penis in.

Kal raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Aradelle nodded, "To me, it's really nothing more than another source of water, and if it makes life easier for you…" the alarune shrugged unconcernedly.

"Sometimes I need to remind myself that you are a plant and see things very differently than I do," said Kal as he sat on the side of her bulb and kicked his boots off once again.

"Bring them inside," Aradelle said, "if it frosts you don't want your clothes covered in it."

Kal looked at the flower's basin behind him and gave her a curious look, there had been many times so far the floor of her flower had been covered in nectar from their more intimate activities. Sighing he decided to trust the alarune and grabbed his boots. Aradelle pantomimed taking clothes off so he began to mimic her, folding everything up and laying everything in a neat pile with his vambraces on top.

The almost imperceptible breeze turned biting on his exposed skin as the temperature continued to drop. Within seconds he was holding back the urge to shiver.

"Step on those like last time," said Aradelle laying her two vines at his feet. They wrapped around his feet and ankles like earlier as Aradelle wrapped her arms around him and molded herself to his body. The strong fibrous vines again lifted him up but only enough to bring him and Aradelle over to the middle of her flower.

The center of her flower opened up beneath them, Aradelle hugged Kal tighter and began breathing quicker as they descended. Kal had put his arms around her for support as she lifted him but now embraced her back in response to her odd behavior. As his head passed through the opening, Kal looked down at Aradelle in surprise as the binding magic formed around them and snapped into place almost immediately.

They stopped in midair as Aradelle gasped and stared up at him, "I can feel you," she said in awe. She turned her head in the direction of the shack, "Ikuno and Bea too!" Staring off to the south and down into the ground she exclaimed, "That must be Gerda!" Forgetting for a moment that the golem was very far away she pulled a hand away from Kal and waved for a second before her expression turned to one of embarrassment and she hugged him tightly again.

Kal was focusing intently on his bonds with each of the women and had to laugh when a strong almost audible feeling of 'Welcome!' came from Ikuno and Bea, but more amusing was that he was certain Gerda had stopped wherever she was and actually waved back at 'Dell.

Kal turned her head back towards him, "Welcome, Aradelle," he said before kissing her tenderly.

When Kal pulled back she was grinning from ear to ear with tears in her eyes. Kal had at least learned enough about women to not ask questions in moments like this. Even though he had the experience of finding out he was going to be a father to draw on, he still didn't completely understand the whole 'crying because you are happy' thing women seemed to do so often.

Aradelle lowered them down the rest of the way into her 'belly' as she had called it. Kal looked up and watched as her petals and protective leaves closed over the top of them, blocking out the quickly fading light from outside. Drawing a quick rune he summoned a small orb to illuminate his surroundings, just in time to see the opening above him shrinking down to a small hole.

Looking around, Kal watched as the two vines unwrapped from around his feet and retracted into places over where the floor met the bowed sides of the circular chamber. The floor itself had a little bit of give beneath his feet but was also noticeably warm. This answered the question as to why he wouldn't need a bedroll, but he did wonder how comfortable things would be when it came time to sleep without one. Kal ran his fingers over the smooth greenish-brown inside of the hollow, getting giggles from Aradelle like she was being tickled. If he had to guess he could just about lay on the floor and have his head touch one side while his feet touched the other, were it not for the vines that made up the bottom half of Aradelle's legs being attached to the middle. Upon closer inspection, there was probably enough room between them in one direction he could lay down.

Seeing where he was looking Aradelle bent down, "This is the mouth I was talking about earlier," a small slit opened up and Kal summoned the orb over, half expecting to see a tongue and teeth rimming the inside like her vines did out in the clearing instead just seeing a smooth, if slightly bumpy channel that undulated slightly as she ran her finger around the edge.

"No teeth?" he asked.

Aradelle smiled, "As I said earlier I don't eat like that, the only thing I've had in there doesn't require teeth." She said putting one finger on her mouth and another just above her sex then tracing lines down her body and each one of her legs until the tips of the fingers met over the slit.

"So, no matter where I come it ends up in your… stomach?"

Aradelle giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, "Until you give Eludora a sister it does."

The alarune suddenly began acting nervous, "Um… Kal? I had something special that I wanted you to do tonight, but if you don't want to that's okay! I mean it is kind of a strange request, so I wouldn't really blame you if you said no, and if things went wrong you might get mad at me…" the alarune was wringing her hands with anxiety.

"'Dell, settle down," he said stopping her, "you need to actually ask me before I can say yes or no."

Aradelle hesitantly reached behind her back and Kal heard the sound of flipping pages again. When she brought her hand forward she was holding a tiny jar.

"This is some of Bea's dust. Kal," she took a shuddering breath, "will you feed me tonight? Feed me and completely fill me up?"

Kal took the tiny jar, knowing just how potent it was, there could be enough to last days if doled out in small quantities. He looked from the jar to the slit in the floor, Kal gave her a questioning look, "You want me to…" he said giving the slit a meaningful glance.

"No, no, no, you don't have to actually put it in there just… ummm… when you come pull out and do it in that mouth, not this one," she said pointing to her face.

Holding up the jar he said, "Bea's dust is to make sure I feed you lots?"

Aradelle gave a breathy "Yes!" She was obviously getting very turned on by the idea.

Kal looked down at his groin where his prick was now standing proudly. Apparently, she wasn't the only one. The things he did for his women.

Handing the jar back to Aradelle he said, "If that's what you want then okay, I'm in."

Aradelle squealed and threw her arms around him kissing Kal all over his face. She leaned back and began undoing the lid from the jar but stopped when Kal put his hands on her hips and pulled her towards him nudging her sex with the head of his cock. She looked up at him with a curious expression but opened her legs obediently. Kal and Aradelle both moaned as he slid into her tight pussy and began slowly working his prick in and out.

"I wanted to feel you without the extra help first," he said nodding towards the jar. "Whenever you are ready 'Dell."

She locked her legs behind his back driving Kal deep inside her and stopping him for a moment. Once she had the lid off, she held the jar up to his mouth. "Bea said the lust effect is less intense but lasts longer if eaten instead of inhaled. Your… production will take longer to get to it's maximum, but will stay there longer as well," she explained.

"Wait a second," he pointed upwards, "open up for a moment."

Pulling the jar away and giving him another curious look, she did as he asked. Kal drew the rune for his telekinesis cantrip and a moment later his bracer with the healing rune floated down and onto his arm before the laces tied themselves.

"Just in case," he said smiling and opened his mouth for Aradelle.

She grinned in return and tapped a small amount of the dust out onto his tongue before unwrapping her legs from his waist. Once free Kal immediately began to slowly stroke in and out of the alarune's tight pussy. She had passed the jar off to one of her vines after replacing the lid and now wrapped her arms around Kal' neck delighting in the feel of his hard cock pushing into her depths over and over.

There was a strange flutter across Kal's mind that he guessed was the lust effect from the dust but the compatibility enchantment shut it down almost immediately. Soon after he felt the sensitivity of his dick increase and his scrotum start to fill far beyond normal.

"Ready for your first meal?" he asked Aradelle.

The alarune looked up at him and let out a breathy moan as a small climax ran through her, squeezing his prick and forcing Kal to think of runes and numbers and diagrams to stave off his own orgasm. Aradelle slid off him with a groan of disappointment from both of them and got down on her hands and knees with her pussy just above the mouth below. Kal positioned himself behind her and pushed home.

With him already being on edge all he had to do was relax and slide in and out of Aradelle's sex a few more times before pulling out quickly and pointing his dick at the slit below. Cumming into the hole in the floor wasn't terribly exciting though it did feel extremely good as ropes upon ropes of cum flew out the end of his cock into Aradelle's lower mouth. More interesting, and even just slightly disturbing was Aradelle's reaction. She had flopped over onto the floor in front of him, if it weren't for her eyes occasionally blinking he would think she was unconscious, even stranger was how her outline would occasionally fray, like she couldn't keep her avatar completely together, and how it would snap back in place with the sound of flipping pages through a book.

The alarune finally came to about a minute after Kal stopped cumming. With a groan, her form solidified, and she pushed herself up so she was sitting back on her knees.

"More please," she begged shaking her ass at him.

Kal had a doubtful look on his face, "Are you sure 'Dell? I've never seen you act like that."

Before she could answer Kal got a strong push from Ikuno and Bea 'Do it!' Kal focused on 'Dell and quickly realized if she were doing any better than she felt right now she'd be glowing.

Kal put one hand on her shoulder to keep her in this position and used the other to collect some nectar from her dripping pussy and liberally coat her back door with it, making Aradelle jerk and moan at the touch. Taking his cock in hand he pressed it against the alarune's tight rear, the plant girl's moans turning into shrieks of pleasure as the head slowly passed through her sphincter. The tightness of Aradelle's ass felt amazing to Kal as he continued to inch forward. When he was buried completely inside her the alarune reached back and grabbed his arm.

"Stay," she said as she began to rhythmically squeeze him. She pulled forward until only the head was still in her bottom then collected some more of her nectar and slathered his shaft with it before pushing back until he was completely sheathed once again. She did this a couple more times until Kal told her his balls were ready again.

"Fuck me Kal, Fuck my ass hard," she begged him in a voice filled with desire.

Kal did exactly as she asked, taking hold of her hips and driving up into her rear fast and hard. As Kal got close he reached around and vibrated Aradelle's clit with two fingers. The moment he felt her squeeze down on him as she climaxed, he pulled out and began filling her lower mouth again with semen.

Aradelle went to pieces, almost in the literal sense. Where before her form had started to fray, the excess stimulation made her body drift apart to the point Kal could make out all of the tiny interlocking petals that made up her avatar. With a gust of displaced air, her body snapped back together only to start slowly drifting apart again. Kal was reminded of the fact that he was indeed having sex with a plant and its avatar by the display. As Aradelle's orgasm subsided her body snapped together one last time, but it looked strange to Kal until her form frayed again and she was back to her normal self.

As Kal's dust-extended climax finally faded Aradelle turned to look at him, "One, or the other. Not both, it's too much."

Kal smiled, "What would you like to do until I'm ready again?"

Aradelle smiled back before coating her bottom with nectar again and shaking her ass at him.

"As you wish."

Either they unknowingly used far too much of Bea's dust or Bea vastly understated its effectiveness and duration, but it was hours later that Kal's erection started to finally droop.

Kal did end up making use of Aradelle's lower mouth, not out desire but out of sheer exhaustion. It allowed him to feed her while just lying on the floor, often while getting a drink from the alarune in an attempt to fend off dehydration. All in all, it wasn't bad, the constant massage and suction was enough to do the trick, multiple times, but didn't hold a candle to the passionate blowjobs given by Aradelle's avatar.

Aradelle, on the other hand, was thrilled by the experience, claiming that there was something primal and exciting about having his dick in there even though it didn't give her the same type of pleasure as being in her pussy or ass. When he asked about her reaction to when he came in her lower mouth she just got a euphoric look on her face and said she couldn't describe it. Aradelle did end up getting her wish and he managed to completely fill up her 'stomach' before the dust wore off, the alarune making a burping noise while covering her mouth before telling him he could pull out.

Bringing his bracers had also been a good idea he used the healing rune multiple times as he continued to get sore, with a flash of the rune he was ready to go again.

When all was said and done for the night Aradelle made him a hammock out of vines and like earlier laid on top of him as he slept.

Kal was startled awake to a wooden knocking coming from up above. Aradelle grumbled in annoyance until she bumped into his morning wood. Positioning her sex over him she sank down on his full length slowly a few times then bounced on it a couple dozen more before letting him up. He had to say it was almost as nice as a good morning blowjob. Kal took advantage of her offer from yesterday and used the opening at the end of the vine to take care of the cause of his daily erection, then had to shoo it away as it tried to do more. Aradelle giggled at Kal as she fetched his clothes from up top since he wouldn't have enough room to get dressed with the petals closed. Once they were ready she lifted him up while opening up her flower.

Ikuno and Bea stared at him open-mouthed, Aradelle picked Kal up with her vines and set him between them.

"Water, food, and lots of it," the alarune told them as they continued to stare.

"No, shit," said Ikuno as she dropped Kal's pack and tossed him his waterskin. "We left Kal with you and you gave us back a skeleton."

Kal paused with the waterskin almost at his lips, "What?"

"It looks like she sucked you dry, I'd say you look like a mummy but you don't know what that is yet."

Kal chuckled, "She pretty much did." Kal tipped the waterskin up and the most wonderous, delicious, heaven-sent, liquid came pouring across his tongue. He stopped drinking and looked at Ikuno, "What is this? it tastes amazing."

"It's water Kal," said Ikuno, her voice flat

"Good tasting water. Where'd you get it?"

"From my waterfall, we filled them up yesterday when Gerda brought us home."

"I wonder why it tastes so good?"

"Maybe because you are severely dehydrated?" she said taking his hand and holding up his arm, dehydrated or not something was wrong, his skin seemed… loose.

"I'd offer you some nectar but I think you've had enough for awhile," said Aradelle from behind him. "What you really need right now is lots of water and lots of food, the nectar you drank last night will only last you so long. Your body isn't made to live off it like Bea's."

For the next couple of hours, Kal drank his fill of water and ate most of the rations they had brought for both him and Ikuno. Aradelle hadn't been kidding about the nectar only lasting so long and the crash from it left him feeling sick until the food had been eating took its place. Eventually, Bea took her leave and flew off to the west after giving a passionate kiss to each of them and reminding Kal that her mating season would be in about a month. Once Kal was looking and feeling better he and Ikuno also said their goodbyes and headed back home.

As Kal and Ikuno made their way back to the road tears of happiness ran down Aradelle's face. Through her bond, she could sense Kal, Ikuno, and the other two. For the first time, she didn't feel terribly lonely as they walked away.

As the next day dawned Aradelle had yet another visitor. Unlike yesterday's visits, she was extremely unhappy about this creature sniffing around her flower. Peeking between a tiny crack in her wooden leaves she quickly shuffled through all her ancestors' memories trying to match something to the strange blue-gray wolf with glowing eyes, teeth, and claws that appeared to have ghostly wisps of light rolling off of them constantly. Its body shimmered making it hard to look at, like it was always slightly out of focus, and glowing mist rolled out of its mouth every time it bared its fangs. Aradelle frowned as she finally found a match: A spectral dire wolf or necro-wolf, undead seeker-killers with all the abilities of the dire wolf it was raised from, along with a few nasty surprises as her ancestor had found out. Once set upon a target it would continue until it was destroyed, or it's mark was dead.

The wolf walked a few paces away then turned and sat staring at Aradelle's pod.

"Come out plant girl, I know you are awake in there," the wolf said in a gasping disembodied voice that chilled Aradelle to her soul. Her ancestor had no memory of the necro-wolf she encountered being able to talk.

Aradelle's flower opened and she rose up out of the center, a vine framing her on either side, "I've no desire to speak with you, leave here," she threatened, wicked-looking thorns sprouting from the sides of the green tendrils next to her.

"Tell me where the blue one is, and I will happily do so," said the wolf.

"You're perfectly capable of finding her yourself, you've no need for my help. Not that I would give it anyway."

"The trail's gone cold, disappeared into the mountainside. She spent time here," the spectral wolf stared at the place Ikuno had been resting against Aradelle's side. "Tell me where she is."

Aradelle smiled at how they accidentally confounded such a skilled hunter using Gerda's ability to move through rock, "You're a foolish one. I'm an alarune, I can't move from this place, yet you think I can tell you how to find her?"

"You stink of her, far more than that of a passing acquaintance. Lover perhaps? You know where she is I can see it in your eyes," hissed the wolf standing up. "Tell me and I'll let you live."

Aradelle glared at the wolf, "I would make the same offer to you if you left and never returned. Sadly, I can't. First, because you're already dead and second," her thorned vines quivered menacingly on either side of her, "because you aren't leaving here."

The wolf growled in anger and ran at Aradelle, reaching full speed in just a couple of strides. The spectral wolf jumped at her with its claws outstretched and glowing teeth bared. Beneath it a vine burst from the ground striking the necro-wolf from below, halting its momentum and sending it flying into the air. As it fell Aradelle's main vines retracted their thorns and twisted into a large ball. With a yelp from the wolf, the ball slammed into the side of the falling canine, sending it bouncing and skidding along the ground.

The spectral wolf jumped to its feet as soon as it came to rest only to be wrapped up by a vine from Aradelle's second to last row. The vine bent towards Aradelle for a second then sent the wolf sailing through the air towards the edge of the clearing, but not before the wolf managed to twist around and land a bite on the vine holding it. As the wolf went flying black tendrils quickly began spreading downward from the bitten area until the razor-edged thorns from the vine next to it swiftly severed the infected creeper then picked it up and sent it airborne after the wolf.

Aradelle's aim proved true as the undead wolf impacted the trunk of a tree barely outside her clearing then fell to the ground. Vines from Aradelle's outer ring quickly wrapped around its neck, body, and all four legs, immobilizing it as its bones snapped and twitched unnaturally back into place from its necromantic healing.

The wolf's eyes were drawn to the sound of the now decaying vine it had bitten falling to the ground not far away. It snarled and barked at Aradelle, "You bitch! You've met my kind before!"

The alarune's vines carried the necro-wolf out as far as they could reach into the forest and away from her clearing. The wolf howling in fury the entire time as its final revenge was stolen from him.

Back in the middle of the clearing Aradelle calmly said, "Yes, I have."

The vine around the spectral wolf's neck coiled upward until its glowing eyes could no longer be seen and its mouth was held tightly shut. The vines holding its legs retreated leaving only the ones around its head and torso. The moment they were free the wolf brought up its back legs and scratched the plant wrapped around its torso with its glowing claws. The black tendrils only had a moment to work before Aradelle squeezed. Unable to feel pain, the necro-wolf raged up until the moment it's head caved in and it's body turned to pulp with a sickening crunch. Acidic ochre-colored blood burnt into the vines until they were so damaged they could no longer hold on to the wolf's remains. A few seconds after falling to the ground the glow of its teeth and claws faded along with the magic that had sustained it.

Aradelle winced as she severed the two vines that had ended the wolf, losing the vines stung but was far better than the feeling of being eaten away by acid. She couldn't take a chance on the effect from its claws and bite getting into her main body, the result would most certainly be deadly.

Her ancestor had managed to save herself from the decay, but only by severing a large number of her vines. Unlike Aradelle, she hadn't known about the toxic and acidic blood, a quarter of her ancestor's clearing had been rendered useless for almost a decade and a few months after the incident she had to cut and separate the roots beneath to prevent herself from being poisoned.

The alarune looked around for any more threats, though she hadn't felt anything while dealing with the wolf. Aradelle was at a loss, in the twenty years she had known Ikuno nothing along these lines had happened. Now she needed to get a message to the oni and Kal as quickly as possible and had no way to do so. She sunk down into the middle of her flower and sat with her back against the side. Leaning her head back she began to weigh her options.

Before she could get very far a faint feeling materialized in the back of her mind. Three people were coming towards her one from the south, another from the southwest and the last much closer from due west. As she focused on the feelings she could make out Ikuno, Kal and Bea along with a fourth that must have been Gerda moving away from her towards Ikuno. Sighing in relief Aradelle smiled at the prospect that they were already on their way. On that same note, she suddenly realized that she had little to tell them, having killed the only source of information before finding out so much as the name of the person who sent it.

The man howled in anger and pain as his tie to the spectral wolf was cut. As the pain faded a maniacal grin split his face, he was getting closer.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Kal, Ikuno, Bea and one of Aradelle's vines approached the spectral wolf's remains in hopes of finding any kind of information. Two long black streaks of decayed plant matter starting just beyond the edge of Aradelle's clearing led them to where it had met its end. It was easy to see, however, that any hope of evidence pertaining to who sent it and why it was looking for Ikuno had dissolved into a bubbling, smoking pool of sickly yellow blood laced with black streaks.

"Any ideas?" asked Kal

Ikuno stared at the bile-colored pool in front of them, "Unfortunately no, I never had any desire to get to know any necromancers. Most of them are a vile sort, unpleasant personalities and always reeking of death and decay, well, most of them anyway." She turned to Aradelle's vine and the blue orb it was holding, "You said that it was able to speak?" the vine nodded, "To say that I didn't like necromancers doesn't mean I didn't have dealings with them over the years. I've seen plenty of these and never ran across, or even heard of, one with the ability to talk. From what little I've read on necromancy giving a raised creature any more than basic functions requires an active connection to the caster."

She waved at the puddle, "That would be foolish for one of these necro-wolves, they're considered disposable. Set them on their target and walk away. If they are destroyed first in most cases their death will kill the mark anyways. If they take enough damage they are often designed to explode and cover their mark in acid. Aradelle got extremely lucky that one of her ancestors had experience with one."

"Do you think it could have actually killed you?" asked Kal

"The acid is magically strong, I would have had only seconds to wash it off if it had cornered me in my cave," she gave him a look of genuine concern. "No, I don't think I would have, at least not with the spells I have now."

Kal was feeling a bit shaken, though he didn't show it for the sake of Aradelle and Bea. Since he met the oni she had been this indomitable force in his life. Knowledgeable, powerful, strong, wise, and able to stare down three Knights of the Lion's Shield with a grin, yet here she was admitting that one of these spectral wolves could have killed her. He was so accustomed to thinking of her as physically invulnerable that he was having a hard time accepting this small dose of reality.

"Quit looking so worried, Kal. That's only a worst-case scenario. If I had any warning I'd just tap it with this," she said summoning her iron club to her hand. "One touch is all it takes. After that, it's just a corpse of a dire wolf."

Bea took a step back from the large spiked weapon, "What on earth is that?"

"Something that creatures that are sustained by magic and wizards alike are wise to be scared of," said Ikuno as she bent down and barely touched the puddle with one of the spikes near the end of the club. The yellow color of the puddle turned to a reddish brown and almost instantly stopped smoking. "It absorbs magic," she told Bea standing back up and inspecting the spike for damage.

Aradelle's vine popped up beside Ikuno, looking agitatedly between the club and Ikuno, the oni laughed when she figured out what the vine was getting at. "I never needed to summon it while you were around," she said almost mimicking Aradelle's own words from a few days earlier.

The vine managed to do a convincing representation of rolling its eye.

"Is there any way to track it back to who sent it?" asked Kal trying to steer the conversation back to the current issue.

Bea answered first, "Aradelle asked me to fly up to look around before you two got here and see if my eyes could pick anything up. There was a streak of coldness that ran north a ways but that faded and disappeared after a minute or so of following it."

"Creatures like that absorb energy and magic from their environment to sustain them. The trail faded as the living creatures it stole energy from recovered," explained Ikuno. "Directly north of here is one of the major trading roads in the area. Unfortunately, it's trail running in that direction doesn't tell us much."

"What about using magic to track it back?" asked Kal.

Ikuno sent the iron club airborne with a flick of her wrist where it vanished with a small flash. She then looked down at the puddled remains of the wolf and shook her head, "Unless you think you can learn some divination spells in the next few minutes, we're out of luck there."

Kal thought for a moment, "What about something more physical? Like heightening your sense of smell?"

Ikuno gave him a questioning look and said, "I know that you think that I act like a bitch in heat all the time, but that's a little harsh, Kal."

"Wait! No! That's not what I…," Kal stopped and turned red as Bea and Ikuno started laughing at him, even Aradelle's vine was doing a good pantomime of someone having fits of laughter.

They eventually concluded there were no solid solutions for discovering the identity of the person hunting Ikuno. Realizing this, the trio made their way back to Aradelle's flower before saying goodbye to the alarune and going their separate ways.

About halfway back to meet Gerda at the base of the mountain, Kal suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail.

"Wait a second!" he said looking at Ikuno, "How was 'Dell able to hear us?!"

* * *

Perra. Was. Frustrated.

Little more than a week had gone by and Kal had been spending a large amount of time with Ikuno since the attack on Aradelle. When he was home, however, the sexual tension between them had reached a fever pitch. Perra had been taking almost cruel advantage of the side effect from his compatibility spell. Something that she would honestly feel bad about if it weren't for Kal giving just as good as he got. Far too often she had gotten him all riled up only to have him turn it around on her and later end up off by herself taking care of her urges.

Today that all changed, she had seriously considered sneaking into Kal's room and jumping his bones to start off her birthday on a good note. Kal's mother had wanted to make breakfast as her gift to the birthday girl but Perra insisted she take care of it. As the morning dragged on and she had breakfast cooking with no sign of him, she decided to chance peeking into his room.

It was empty.

Worse yet, his pack was gone meaning he was planning on being out most of the day. Perra raged internally at his absence, at least she thought it was internally, Kal's mother did her best to hide her smile as the girl stomped back over to the kitchen area.

* * *

Kal had been less than honest with Perra about his time away from the farm. Yes, he had been at Ikuno's but the issue of the necro-wolf was largely dead at this point with no potential leads. Instead, Kal had been learning about geomancy with a very specific project in mind.

He had also been working on two new runes, specifically for the journey he was taking with Gerda. The first was placed on a roughly triangular hard leather mask that sealed tightly over his nose and mouth. The tanner in Telsin made it for him and the poor man had been totally confused as to why he wanted a mask that he could breathe out of but not in. On the inside and outside of the mask were runes that when powered took air from around the outer rune, cleaned it, then expelled it from the inner rune where he could breathe it in. The straps around his head were annoying and uncomfortable but the apparatus was necessary for what he had planned.

Sadly, Kal couldn't take credit for the runes or the facemask as they had been in his runesmithing tome, along with a different rune for the outside which was meant to take air from water. The author explained that he never figured out a way get similar effects from using runes on his skin. However, Kal did manage to use his ability to see magic to make small improvements, when he was done even smells were filtered out leaving only pure air coming from the inner rune.

The second rune was for fire and flame resistance. Ikuno had been on him about learning and getting this one onto a bracer ever since she had mentioned visiting the salamander girl living off to the east. Similar to his haste rune, he took a particular interest in this one. Mostly because it introduced him to a new concept:

"'The initial ring contains a limiting glyph for the power extended to the outer rings,'" Kal read from the book as he sat in Ikuno's library. "'It is set as such due to magical energy requirements increasing by an order of magnitude beyond this point. Theoretically, complete immunity to all types of thermal interaction would be achievable through the use of this particular rune. However, as currently set, the rune will afford protection to nearly any type of flame or thermal source, up to, but not including, draconic and magmatic.'"

Kal put the book on the table and ran his hands over his face. "Why must reading these descriptions be so dull," he complained to the air around him.

Ikuno looked up from the book she was reading, "You haven't met any other wizards yet, you'll realize quickly that they can be a bunch of pompous asses. With the time and effort most of them have devoted to their craft, it's difficult to blame them. I believe that they intentionally make their texts borderline incomprehensible. Partly as a means of demonstrating their knowledge of the subject and partly to keep people from 'casually' studying magic. I think you forget sometimes that you are decades younger than the author's intended audience."

"You're right, I do," Kal chuckled, "'Other wizards'… It feels so strange when you or the townspeople call me a 'wizard'. Sure, I can use magic, but I don't feel much like someone who has earned that title. Then again, I still feel strange when people I've known my whole life call me 'Master Kal'."

Ikuno returned to her book, "They've only been doing it for a few months. Give it time and soon enough you'll get all indignant when someone forgets to."

"Ugh, I hope not," he said looking back at his own book. "This limiting glyph on the innermost ring is interesting. I'm certain that I could use that in other things as well. Like that facemask I just made, right now it just pours out clean air. I wonder if I could make it pulse, so it only does it in time with my breathing."

"What if you end up running or lifting with it on," Ikuno said without looking up. "Also, if you are exerting yourself is it still going to produce enough air to keep you from passing out? Hopefully, I don't need to remind you that your mask is a deathtrap if you lose consciousness."

"Hmm… Good points all. I may need to come back to that later. When I was flipping through some of the later chapters I think I saw something about a glyph that will lock a rune when it's activated and remain on until dispelled. I have some other things I need to learn in between before I get to that point."

Kal returned to his book again, A few moments later he let out a small whoop and started streaming ink from the inkwell into the air in front of him.

"Found something interesting I take it?" asked Ikuno.

"Very," Kal responded as the ink flowed into the sigils and glyphs he wanted. "The author also added a resistance glyph. Assuming I'm understanding his jargon correctly, if I make the fire resistance rune while replacing the limiting glyph with the one for resistance I will be able to push the rune further if I need to."

He looked up at Ikuno, "Compared to dragon's breath, how hot is that Fire Wall spell of yours?" he asked with a grin.

Ikuno hung her head and groaned, "You're going to be the death of me, boy."

* * *

Gerda and Kal phased through a wall into a tiny cavern, Kal immediately summoned a small light source.

Gerda sniffed about for a moment, "The air is bad in here, keep the mask on."

When contacting her sisters, the eldest one, named Marble, had known of a device that allowed humans to understand golems easier. Creating one had been surprisingly simple since all it turned out to be was a small pebble with a hole through it attached to a large hook. The pebble rested just inside the ear canal while the hook looped around the back of the ear and held it in place. Though the golem still spoke slowly it was still a vast improvement from the translation spell. When Kal asked Ikuno if she was going to remove the pearl in his mouth now, she laughed and told him that the spell was not specifically for golems and that he could speak and understand almost any living language. Kal was decidedly shocked by this news, as was Perra when he informed her later.

Kal nodded at Gerda's assessment, the air was already making his eyes sting slightly. He had a hard time holding back a smile at the role reversal from when they first met. With the mask, his speech was too muffled for Gerda to understand and now she was the one able to speak clearly.

"The stones you want are there," she said pointing at an angle towards the ceiling. "I'll go get some and be back, then take you somewhere else. Yellow gas in here, it burns human's eyes. Can't stay here long."

Kal didn't know what 'yellow gas' was but he nodded vigorously as the golem girl walked back into the wall.

She came back in just a few minutes holding two large white crystals in one arm. With the other, she grabbed his hand and pulled him through the wall as they made their way to somewhere more suitable for the next part. Kal really didn't get to see exactly what she was holding, the stinging had gotten worse to the point he had to close his eyes and keep them shut.

Minutes later, and far enough down that the earth was starting to warm up, they came out into another cavern roughly the size of the one they first met in. Kal again summoned a light as Gerda set the crystals down and began making a familiar swirling motion over a small area of the floor. Acting like she was grasping something large on both sides, she pulled upwards and a column of stone rose up to about waist level from the floor. She then passed a hand back and forth just above the surface, leaving the stone table perfectly smooth in its wake. Finally, Gerda picked up the two large white crystals, each about the size of one of Kal's small stew pots, inspected each one carefully with her ruby eye, then placed one of them on the table.

She turned and looked at Kal, "You can take the mask off, the air is good here. It comes in over there," she pointed at a crack in one wall, "and leaves there," she said pointing at a similar small crack in the ceiling. Patting the top of the table she said, "Good place to work on gems. I'm going to eat." She held up the other crystal then walked a few steps away and began making the swirling motion that tied her actions to the rock in front of her. Looking at her other hand with the crystal in it she stopped, placed the crystal down, then repeated the process of making the table but smaller and only high enough to make a stool to sit on. Picking the crystal up she took a large bite out of one side and crunched away at the mineral noisily, a dreamy look of contentment on her face.

Kal slowly took off his breathing mask, getting a strong whiff of sulfur, and watched all of this with a mix of curiosity and amusement. Comparing the flows of magic between Gerda and the stone to when he moved a bunch of dirt to plant Eludora was night and day. He had to make multiple rounds over the top of a rune in order to attach it to a plot of soft dirt that had been prepared beforehand with a magic circle, all prior to moving. Gerda could have likely done one circular motion with her hand before 'lifting' and had the same effect on the much tougher stone. It amazed him how easy she made it look.

Kal had been worried when he saw that she had chosen such large deposits. He didn't want to insult her but he only needed a small piece to make the gem he wanted. When he saw how much she was enjoying eating the white mineral he didn't think leftover rocks would be an issue. For a moment curiosity got the better of him and he lifted up the crystal, taking a small lick. It tasted like dirt.

Shaking his head and wondering what he had been expecting he dug through his pack and pulled out the parchment that had the instructions for shaping the mineral into a moonstone.

* * *

Three hours and five failed attempts later he finally had a small oval moonstone that matched his desired dimensions exactly. Kal looked over at Gerda. She had gotten rid of the stool once she was done eating the other crystal and instead made a bed to lay on. He chuckled when he realized that the bed she made was an exact stone replica of Ikuno's, even down to the headboard.

Kal wrapped the completed moonstone in a piece of linen and placed it in his pack then went over to the napping rock golem. Lying down next to Gerda he draped one arm over her, putting a hand on her belly then sliding it up to cup one of her breasts. She had explained that golems only bother with covering up their breasts and sex when among surface dwellers. Like her rock armor, it took active concentration, even though it was just a tiny amount, to maintain her bikini. That meant when she fell asleep she reverted to being nude again, as she had now.

Gerda hummed happily for a moment before pebbles formed beneath Kal's hand breaking contact with her skin.

Kal sighed, "You are learning how to tease me all too well from Ikuno."

With much grinding and scraping on the stone bed, Gerda rolled over to face him, "I'm not teasing. Right now you want, not need. If you need, I will take care of you. If you only want, save it for Perra." Gerda's hips made a tiny circular motion, almost unnoticeable but enough to let Kal know she was wishing he was 'in need' right now.

Kal sighed again, "You're right, I'm just wanting you right now. But we still have an amethyst to get."

Gerda smiled and offered him her large rocky hand. After slipping the facemask back on from where it had been hanging around his neck, a mildly annoying task while laying on his side, he presented his own. Stone from her hand grew around his and a moment later they both sunk down into the bed leaving the chamber empty.

* * *

Perra stepped into the quiet of the inn's dining room and threw back the hood of her cloak. This early in the morning there was little going on other than a few travelers having a late breakfast. To her surprise, Kahrin was behind the counter instead of the innkeeper, Master Ellis.

Kahrin smiled wide at the sight of her, "What can I do for ye Lady Perra?"

"Where's Master Ellis?" Perra asked.

"He's feelin' a wee bit under the weather t'day so me n' Bren are lookin' after things for 'im," Bren grunted from his seat next to the door. "How can I help ye?"

Perra fidgeted for a moment before producing two silver pieces and sliding them across the counter, "I was wondering if I could have a bit of your time."

"Why Lady Perra, I didn'a have a clue ye were inclined towards the soft touch of a woman. Not that ye'd be the first ta be interested in payin' for me time," Kahrin said looking positively scandalized.

Perra sputtered for a moment in embarrassment before nearly yelling, "Not for that!" she looked around the dining room for a moment, all of the current customers were out of earshot, then continued in a quieter tone, "I just need some advice, Kahrin. Today is my birthday."

Kahrin squealed like a little girl and ran around the counter throwing her arms around the surprised young woman, "Yer so lucky lass! I'm guessin' ye two haven't gone for a tumble yet then?"

"No," Perra grumbled, "he was gone when I woke up this morning."

"Pfft, don't ye worry none," said the barmaid waving off her concerns, "Master Kal is a good man. He won't be missin' out on somethin' as important as yer birthday." Kahrin continued in a stage whisper, "Which is a right good thing for ye too lass. The only man I've had better n' Master Kal is the big lout sittin' in that chair over there."

Having easily heard everything the barmaid just said, Bren chuckled, a deep bass rumbling that seemed to emanate more from his chest than his mouth. Perra swore she could feel the man's laughter through the floorboards. Her eyes momentarily flicked to his crotch and she looked back at Kahrin with eyes like saucers. It was that big and it wasn't even hard!

The barmaid chuckled at the girl's expression, "Ye needn't worry lass. It takes a special kinda woman ta take that monster. Master Kal's a good size ta fit nicely without ye needin' ta stretch yerself aforehand."

Perra guessed that Kal hadn't mentioned his enchanted cock to Kahrin during his time with her. She also steeled herself against jealous thoughts welling from the barmaid's casual chatter about her night with Kal but to her astonishment, they never came. Then again, the older woman had been true to her word and completely stopped chasing after him after their time together.

Kahrin called out to the other barmaid who was working the tables while Kahrin manned the bar, "Ada! Keep an eye on things here I've some business with Lady Perra for awhile."

The young blonde barmaid's face wore a look of confusion, "Wot ya mean? People'l be comin' in for dinnah in a few hours."

Kahrin smiled, "Not that kind o' business, the young Lady just wishes ta talk. Come get me if'n ye needs ta."

Ada nodded and made her way to the bar as Kahrin threw an arm around Perra's shoulders leading her towards her room at the back of the inn. "If'n you were wantin' ta know yer way around a cock, ye came to the right woman. I've got just the things in me room for showin' ye exactly what ta do, an' what not ta do."

* * *

The heat in the cavern that Gerda took him too next was blistering, forcing him to put significantly more power into the fire resistance rune until he was comfortable. He was less worried about the heat right now than the air, the rune on the front of his mask was so bright he could almost use it as a light source. With how the paired runes worked he had to guess the need for extra power was because there was so little breathable air in this subterranean furnace of a room. Gerda's form shimmered in the heat of his floating light source. The golem was both uncaring and unaffected by the lack of air or high temperature. Thankfully there was none of the 'yellow gas' in the air that made his eyes sting here.

Kal had wanted to collect everything on his own with Gerda acting as transport between. When she explained that the mineral that moonstones were made of didn't appear in caverns like this, he had to concede letting her help. With the amethyst, he was determined to do most of the work but already he was becoming thankful for the golem's presence. They walked up to a sphere made of rock that was taller than him, Gerda walked ahead and stepped into it. Her feet poked out the bottom as she walked around inspecting the inside. After a minute or so she stepped out the side of the sphere and pointed.

"Hit it here," she said.

Kal donned the other piece of gear he had made for him, specifically for this but he figured would be useful in other situations as well. A pair of fingerless leather gloves with a thick steel plate attached to the two middle fingers that ran across the front of his fist when he balled up his hand. For good measure, he had another plate attached to the tops of the gloves as well, in case he needed to backhand something big and mean. In actuality, it had been the blacksmith's idea and he had talked Kal into it, even etching some fancy designs on the back to make them look more valuable.

When he showed them to Ikuno later and explained their use she gave them a passing approval before looking at Kal and asking, "Why don't you just bring along a big hammer?" Seeing Kal's face fall, she laughed and tossed the gauntlet back to him before going on a good-natured rant about 'men and their toys' and 'missing the obvious'.

Once the gauntlets were secure on his hands he approached the spot Gerda had indicated. Rearing back, his strength rune shone as he punched through the outer shell of the sphere burying his arm up to the shoulder. Judging by the sigh he heard from the golem standing behind him, he wasn't supposed to do that.

"Too much too fast, Kal," she said in an exasperated tone, "Crack it like an egg, don't punch it like an enemy."

Kal was glad she couldn't see him red-faced with embarrassment as he cautiously pulled his arm out of the hole. Following her advice, he made softer hits that made thin cracks that ran up and down from his original opening. When Gerda gave the go-ahead, he gripped each side of the hole and pulled apart. The large sphere broke cleanly in two along the crack and each half went rocking away from him. Inside the rocky outer later was a thicker shell of smoky purple with occasional white layers interspersed. The real treasure was on the innermost layer, large purplish-blue crystals, some nearly the size of his fist, jutted out from the inner surface.

Kal stared with wonder at the trove of gems before him. Gerda walked through rock and gem alike to inspect some of the larger crystals with her ruby eye. She pointed out a couple of perfect and near perfect amethysts that were big enough to suit his needs before stepping out of the half sphere. She then reached in and broke off a couple of the lower grade gems and popped them in her mouth like candy. As he watched her happily crunch away at the precious stones Kal had to wonder if her softer curves could be likened to those of a human with a sweet tooth.

Kal was able to quickly wrench or twist the gems Gerda had marked out of the whiter layer holding them in place. Then, on a whim, he collected all of the rest of the larger gems and placed them in a separate pouch, in case they might be of some use later. He turned to let Gerda know he was ready only to find her standing behind him glaring.

She pointed at the pouch he had just filled, "Want, not need," she said and held out her hand. Kal was indignant at first but relented after careful consideration. He was already richer than anyone in the area, having these huge gems would be largely pointless, no one in the area or even the traveling merchants would ever be able to pay him for such a thing. As he handed them over Gerda inspected where they had been broken off and put them back in their original places, reattaching them with a little bit of geomancy.

As he went to hand her the last one he pulled his hand back and looked at the gem in confusion.

Looking up at Gerda he said, "I think I need this one for something." Not understanding a word he said because of the leather mask, but gathering that he felt he needed to keep one of them. She swiped the amethyst out of his hand and replaced it inside the geode before breaking off another one of the same size and handing it to him.

"Better quality, almost perfect," she said as he put it in his pouch. Then taking his hand they walked into the wall and headed back to the cave with his worktable.

* * *

Perra had to give Kahrin credit, she was certainly thorough. In two hours, she learned more about the penis and the man attached to it, Kahrin's words not hers, than she had in all her previous years combined. The young woman tried to ignore the slight feeling of roughness in her throat as she walked to the Apothecary. Perra also tried her best to ignore that the reason for that rough feeling had been in the barmaid's ass and pussy at one time or another. Kahrin had been very detailed in the girl's instruction.

She walked into the apothecary's store and waited patiently for the only other customer to leave. When it was her turn and she was alone the herbalist she suddenly became so nervous she nearly tripped in the couple of steps up to the counter.

"How can I help ya, Lady Perra," he said with a big smile. "An' how's Master Kal's mum doing these days? I don't hear much about her since da young Master became a healer."

"Sh.. sh.. She's doing fine, Master Jurien," stuttered Perra before turning bright red in embarrassment. "I'm here for some gondas weed and mint."

"Oho! Got your sights set on the young wizard do you? Not that I blame ya Lady Perra, he was a good lad long before he started learnin' magic." He leaned down and whispered over the counter, "Though if yer lookin' ta tie him down, gondas weed might not be da way ta go about it." The apothecary stood back up and chuckled as Perra's mouth opened and closed in an attempt to form a reply. "Nina!" He yelled towards the leather curtain that led to the back of the store.

"What love?" came the voice of his wife.

"Lady Perra is here fer some gondas weed an' mint," he called back. Perra wanted to curl up into a ball and die from embarrassment.

"First time, right?"

"Aye."

"Send her back, then."

The herbalist jerked his thumb towards the doorway, "Be on with ya now, I'll have your things put together when da wife's done with ya."

The curtain opened up into a short hallway with a well-lit room at the end. Inside was where Lady Nina created all of the potions, elixirs, and salves her husband sold. Along the back wall was an unusually long fireplace sporting an iron bar with each end set into one side of the stone mantle. Above the low burning fire were four small cauldrons simmering away. Nina sniffed and stirred each one in turn, occasionally adding various ingredients as she felt they were needed.

"Have a seat, have a seat," said Nina waving to an empty chair as Perra walked in. "Pay my husband's teasing no mind, he'd have sent ya straight back here without a word if'n someone else had been there ta hear." After checking the last little cauldron, she pulled another chair over and had a seat in front of Perra. "Is it true this is your first time with gondas weed?"

Perra nodded, "Yes, ma'am"

"Enough with the 'ma'am' nonsense back here, call me Nina. It's not often a first timer gets mint along with it is the reason I'm askin'"

"Kahrin from the inn suggested it."

"Kahrin? Hah! Should've known, the girl seems to have a bit of a soft spot for ya. Almost as much of a soft spot as Jurien has for her bottom. Blasted barmaid hasn't paid for her supplies in ages." At Perra's questioning look, Nina explained, "Jurien's too big to take me in the rear, I love the man but it hurts too much. Wouldn't be a problem but it's something he's a bit smitten with. When I was younger I'd suffer through it but as years passed I just couldn't do it anymore. He's a good man, didn't complain once.

When Kahrin moved here and started getting a reputation I had Jurien send her back here for a talk when she was picking up her herbs. I thought the man had died and gone to heaven when he came back and saw her bent over with her arse oiled and waiting for him. Rightly emptied his balls in her backdoor he did. Later on, I heard she started takin' women clients as well. After that she was more than happy to let me join in, the woman's got the tongue of an angel." Nina ended her tale and blushed a little, "I suppose you didn't need to know all that."

Perra glanced towards the front of the store, "You weren't wanting me to…"

Nina was aghast, "Oh no! Heavens no! I didn't mean for you to think that! I bring all the young girls back here to talk their first time getting gondas weed. Which I should probably be getting into instead of talking about my husband's fascination with Kahrin's arse.

"First, if a man's seed even touches your cunt you can end up with a baby, for that reason even if he's taking you in the arse eat your gondas weed beforehand. Second, never take it during your monthlies, the cramps you'll have the next few hours will be very painful. Third…"

* * *

Sometime later Perra pushed the leather curtain aside and came back out into the shopfront. After once again waiting for Master Jurien to get done with another customer she stepped up to the counter. The apothecary slid two small oiled leather pouches across the counter at her, one with a mint leaf stamped into the front.

"Put yer money away Lady Perra," he said as Perra reached for her money pouch, "it's already been paid for by your barmaid friend."

Perra looked around the store, "Was she here while I was talking with Lady Nina?"

"Nay, she came by a few months ago after Master Kal saved her kin, asked me to have these made up for ya and paid for it then." He leaned down and tapped his ear shooting a look at the curtain to the back, "She paid with coin mind you, only coin."

Perra squeaked out a thank you before grabbing the two pouches and running out the door, followed by the man's amused laughter.

* * *

Pieces of moonstone crystal and shattered pieces of amethyst littered the ground around the table Kal was using. Gerda had long ago grown bored of watching Kal attempt to shape the amethyst and was napping on the stone bed. Kal, on the other hand, was pacing in frustration, holding one of the purple gems in his hand.

He watched closely as he poured energy into the gem, unlike the magic crystals the impurities that gave the jewel it's vibrant color were making the energy slowly dissipate into the air around him instead of holding onto it. He could get enough magic in the gem easily enough, however, it seemed that once he started shaping the gem something overloaded, making the jewel shatter. Once again the crystal he was holding turned to dust with a sharp crack that stung his hand.

Sighing in defeat he went over and tapped Gerda on the shoulder. "Gerda, I need your help," he said when she rolled back to look at him.

Gerda nodded and got up, walking over and picking up a gem the size of the tip of his pinkie. Handing it to Kal she waved a finger back and forth over it saying, "stretch it, only this way."

Kal concentrated on the shaping spell and to his amazement, the amethyst started to lengthen. "How…?" he said looking up at the golem.

Gerda cut him off, "Now stretch this way," she said waving her finger at a slight angle from the last one. Again, the jewel started to lengthen.

"Now stretch this way," her finger now moved perpendicular to the first time. Kal felt a bit of resistance and the crystal in his hand once again shattered into dust.

Kal shook his head, "I still don't understand, why will it work the first two ways and not the last?"

Gerda went back to the table and picked up an untouched amethyst. Holding it up to the Kal's light she said, "Gems move in certain directions." Over the jewel, she indicated three directions, in line with the six-sided pyramid the amethyst had naturally formed, then a last one downward. "Only one direction at a time. Move two at once, it breaks. Move in the wrong direction, it breaks." She handed the crystal back to him.

"Thank you, Gerda, I think I get it," he said staring at the purple gem. Gerda kissed him on the cheek and returned to her bed as Kal stepped back over to his table.

* * *

Around an hour later, Kal again tapped Gerda on the shoulder, this time holding up a thin oval-shaped amethyst with the moonstone set in the middle.

Gerda smiled as he placed it in her hands then gave him a questioning look, "Sides are straight. You said you wanted smooth."

Kal shrugged, "It's the best I could do for now I think I could have gotten them smoother with time, but I don't know how long we've been here or how long before we need to go home. Not to mention, we still have the magic crystal to get," he said flipping the gem over and showing the small indentation in the back where a magic crystal would eventually go.

Gerda looked up and through the rock above them, "You're right, no time." Taking the jewel from Kal she focused intently on it with her red crystalline eye. As Kal watched tiny darts of magic ran through the amethyst along the three main axes he had used to shape it. The major difference being that hundreds of them seemed to be running through at any given time. As the sides of the gem became more rounded Kal began to notice that, true to what Gerda had said earlier, at no point was a place in the crystal being pulled two different directions at once, though it was difficult to tell with the flurry of magical activity surrounding the amethyst. Eventually, Gerda handed him back the moonstone perfectly surrounded on all sides by shimmering purple-blue gemstone. Instead of making it smooth, Gerda had instead put thousands of tiny facets along the surface that glimmered and reflected the light. To Kal, it looked far better then what he had been trying to make.

"Now for the hard part," said Gerda frowning, "Mana golems are nasty things, but the only place to find perfect magic crystals."

Kal didn't think he had seen Ikuno quite as excited as when Gerda had mentioned mana golems and the chambers filled with magic crystals they guarded. Gerda had explained that mana golems were not like her and her sisters but pure magical constructs made out of crystal with a vaguely humanoid form. To her knowledge they were effectively indestructible, reforming damaged parts in seconds. They were also deadly, using a similar ability to form crystalline javelins and hurl them at intruders with enough force to bury the brittle crystal deep into the wall. To make matters worse the caves they were found in only occurred in the deepest parts of the earth just above the point that even Gerda and her sisters couldn't go because of the heat.

Gerda had scouted out the crystal cave days earlier. The plan they had come up with was to enter a good way from where the golem seemed to rest and spend most of its time. Gerda would grab as many crystals as she could while Kal protected them with his shield. Then they would beat a hasty retreat before the mana golem could attack them. Gerda's phasing magic allowed Kal to breathe while he was traveling through rock, but Gerda informed him that there was no air in the cavern that his mask could filter. This meant they would only have a little over a minute to work since Kal would have to hold his breath until they were safely out of the cavern.

Gerda found a small cave system with breathable air just above the mana golem's cave where they made their final preparations before diving into the rock below.

Kal did his best not to be stunned as they entered the cavern. The small spot Gerda had picked was one of the few he could see that wasn't completely covered with the magical growths. The cavern itself was huge, the light as he summoned his shield bounced and reflected among the forest of crystalline facets making it look like stars twinkling everywhere the light didn't touch.

Gerda immediately got to work digging up two clusters of nearby gems then going to work on another single crystal that was as big as a newborn baby. She grew rocks out of her body that would fuse with the ones she left attached to the crystals, allowing her to wear the pilfered minerals and leaving her hands free.

Reaching over and touching a large crystal next to him he drew power from it to expand the shield when he saw movement. Between the fire resistance rune and the enlarged shield, he was certain that he was using more magic right now than even when he had drained Ikuno from her magic overload. He felt a sudden lurch and suddenly the crystal he was touching began drawing massive amounts of magic from him. Kal jerked his hand off the crystal but one of his two he had brought along and tucked under his vambraces was already depleted, between Fire resistance and his shield the other was going fast. Kal shrunk his shield down to normal size to reduce his power requirements and tapped Gerda letting her know they needed to go soon.

In the distance, Kal saw a large area of the magic crystals start to glow as the mana golem stood up. Its legs took up a full three-quarters of its height and turned into a strange downward pointed triangular body with arms that were nearly as long as its legs hanging from the shoulders. An image of a face flickered in front of a small nodule that stuck up from the body where a neck would be. Instead of charging as Kal thought it might, it just raised a hand and one of the magic javelins Gerda had told them about began to form in its hand.

Kal tapped Gerda again more urgently this time. She attached the last of the clusters to her body and stood up just in time to see the crystalline spear crash through Kal's shield and bite deeply into the right side of his chest. Gerda's rock hand quickly grew to giant proportions and wrapped around the back of Kal's head since both of his hands were now holding the large crystal spike sticking out of him. She threw herself backwards and into the wall as the mana golem launched a second javelin. She felt the impact through the stone and felt the agony through her bond as the spear penetrated enough to slice into Kal's leg even while he was phased with Gerda. The golem girl froze in panic for a moment until she got the strong impression to take him back to the caves they had done their preparations in.

Kal activated the healing rune and took care of his leg as they jetted upward. He tried tugging the spear out, but something was holding it inside him and he was forced to endure until they came out into the open air of the cave.

Kal let out a yell of pain he had been holding in since the crystal pole had first pierced his skin. Gerda had made sure that the far end was resting on the floor before making them both solid again. She quickly came around to his front to see how she could help.

"Cracked rib. The tip is barbed. Can't go through, will hit shoulder bone. Will have to come back out, lots of damage that way," she said, her flat tone not reflecting the worry on her face.

Kal gave her a determined look, "Out," he whispered.

Gerda grasped the javelin and put one hand on his chest, looking closely with her ruby eye she tried to line up the barbs with the entry wound. She then met his eyes and gave him a sincere look of apology.

Kal nodded.

Pain blossomed in his chest at the same time the healing rune flared on his bracer, the pain-deadening part of the rune was likely the only thing that kept him from passing out. He felt his rib line back up and fuse together as the tissues around it mended. He dropped to his knees and coughed up all of the blood that had collected in his lungs from the wound. He was actually pleased with how little there was.

Still holding the spear Gerda suddenly whipped around and looked down the cave, a moment later Kal heard what drew her attention. Hundreds of legs clicking across the stone, drawn by the smell of blood.

Gerda turned back, "Giant centipede, we must go."

With the healing rune still shining bright, Kal quickly stood and took the spear from her before grabbing her hand and nodding. They sunk into the stone just as the centipede's huge antennae and mandibles came into sight.

* * *

Ikuno was outside to greet them as Kal and Gerda stepped out of the mountain. She was taken aback by the blood-tipped spear Kal was holding and the various clusters of crystals Gerda was sporting from her body. She raised an eyebrow at Kal's torn and blood-stained shirt.

"I felt you get hurt," said Ikuno, "From the looks of things you are okay now?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied looking up at the tip of the spear. "believe it or not this thing hurt worse coming out than it did going in."

Ikuno's eyes widened in astonishment as Gerda began detaching crystals from her body and setting them in the grass. "Are those…?"

"Yes, they are. Gerda managed to get quite a few more then I expected before the mana golem turned me into a pincushion with this thing." Kal looked down at his torn trousers, "He also managed to get my leg when we were already in the rock. That may explain why golems don't like going near them. On top of that my shield only slowed this thing down, good thing too or I might have ended up nailed to the wall, or worse it could have gone through me and into Gerda. Putting it lightly I don't ever want to go back there again."

Ikuno was only half listening as she bent down and inspected one of the smaller bundles of crystals, Gerda doing the same with the last one she detached. "What kind of quality are these, Gerda?"

"These are all perfect to near-perfect. Some just need cutting."

The oni whistled, "You really have no clue what you brought back do you?" Seeing Gerda and Kal's blank faces she continued, "This many near-perfect crystals could get you enough gold to buy yourself a small kingdom if you found the right bunch of wizards. Then again they'd probably just try to kill you and take them instead." She nodded towards the crystal spear, "What about that?"

Kal handed it to the golem who peered closely at it with her magical eye, "Cracked at the tip. The rest is flawless. We can use this for the pendant. It just needs to be cut."

"Wait… how do we cut these?" asked Kal

"Diamond," said Gerda like it was plainly obvious.

"Sorry I'm, fresh out," Kal deadpanned. "Besides if we had one you might end up eating it… Wait a minute you could bite through it!"

Gerda's face screwed up, "Wouldn't eat a diamond. Hard to find and no taste. Like chewing on hard air." Gerda looked at the spear in her hands, "True, but why use diamond or teeth? Has same grain direction as amethyst. Push one side pull the other," she said holding it up for him.

Kal looked closely at the crack that was already in the crystal javelin and picked a line right next to it. After taking a moment to tie his will to the crystal, instead of moving both sides Kal moved only the side with the crack in it, keeping the other still. With a ringing snap, the head of the spear fell into the grass leaving behind an almost perfect angled oval facet on the end of the handle.

Ikuno chuckled from behind him, "from lifting dirt to shearing gems, you've come a long way in a short time."

"Sorry Ikuno but I have to disagree with you there," said Kal producing the moonstone and amethyst jewel wrapped in linen. He looked up at her, "just watch."

Holding out the jewel, Kal looked at Gerda, "The sun is going down and I need to be home so I can celebrate Perra's birthday with her. I can't afford to make a mistake right now and break this by accident. Would you please finish it up for me?" he asked.

"It'll cost you," she said smiling as her eyes dropped to his groin before meeting his again.

"A debt I will pay happily, and with loads of interest, just not tonight."

Ikuno snorted, "As many loads as he can manage," she said bursting into laughter

Smiling, Gerda set down the pole of the spear and took the jewel from him. With her other hand, she snapped off one of the barbs from the spear point, ignoring Kal's dried blood on it. Holding it up between two fingers the outer layers of crystal appeared to just fall off of their own accord. She then pressed the shaped crystal into the slot Kal had formed earlier in the back of the jewel. Within a few seconds, the edges of the amethyst had grown over holding the crystal in place permanently.

Ikuno looked suitably stunned at how fast and precise Gerda had been as she slowly handed over the silver chain and pendant the setting would be attached to. A moment later, Perra's necklace was completed.

Kal wrapped Perra's birthday gift back up in the linen and placed it in a pouch before starting to make ready to leave.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" asked Ikuno.

"Home," said Kal looking dumbfounded. Hadn't he just said that?

"Like hell you are," she said walking over to the mouth of her cave and grabbing two baskets with their soaps and towels laid across the top. "You've damn near been to hell and back, as far as I can tell, and you certainly smell like it. Since you never officially rescinded your 'servitude' I'm ordering you to march up to the pool and wash off, no girl of mine is going to get a stinky cock on her first time if I can help it."

Kal stared in shock at the oni. Perra had always been insistent that she did belong to Ikuno in accordance with the Knight Balthus's decree for saving her life, twice. Until now, Ikuno had never acknowledged any kind of guardianship over the young woman.

"Your girl?!" he said in surprise. Then Kal gave the oni a lecherous grin and waggled his eyebrows, "So, does this mean if she joins us in bed I'll get to see some hot mother-daughter action?"

Ikuno's cheeks turned dark purple as she threw a lazy kick in his direction that Kal easily danced away from, laughing. "You bastard! Off to the shower with you! Or I'll toss you in without warming up the water first!"

* * *

Perra. Was… despondent…

She blamed herself for her current mood. While doing her errands in the village she had come back to the farm three times today just to check and see if Kal was home yet, each time returning to town more disappointed than the last. With the sun touching the treetops if he wasn't home now then he wouldn't be until morning. She wrapped Bonn's reigns around the porch rail figuring she had enough sunlight to put him back in the barn if Kal wasn't here yet again. Stepping in the front door she looked off to her right and let out a shuddering sigh as tears welled up in her eyes, his cloak was still gone.

"That'll be enough of that, young woman," came from Kal's mother sitting in the middle of the room.

Perra turned to look at her, "But…" she didn't get any further when she saw her pack sitting in the older woman's lap. She looked at the woman in confusion.

"I made a night bag up for you, Kal asked me to have you meet him at the inn," said Kal's mother with a kindly smile. "Go, I imagine he's waiting for you."

Perra's face went from elation to concern, "What about…"

"What about nothing, young lady. Kal fed me and took care of my needs, I'll be fine for a night by myself. Off with you."

Perra walked over and wrapped Kal's mother in a big hug, giving her a kiss on the cheek before taking her pack and bouncing out the door with a happy wave over her shoulder.

* * *

Perra left Bonn with the town stablemaster and walked through the front door of the inn only to be met by a raucous cheer from its patrons. She froze in embarrassment when she noticed that most of them were raising their tankards of ale in her direction. In the midst of them all was Kal, sitting there with a huge grin on his face.

Kahrin came from around the back of the bar and shuttled the panic-stricken girl over to Kal and unceremoniously plopped her down in his lap. Raising her hand for silence she said, "Yer man here has been tellin' tall tales to the boys here that he went ta the bottom o' the earth ta get a right proper gift for yer birthday, Lady Perra. Care ta set the record straight?"

Perra's eyes widened as she turned to look at him. The laughter bubbling behind his smile was plain as he took a sip from his tankard. She studied his face carefully and could find no trace of deception in his features.

Still wide-eyed she turned back to Kahrin, "I.. I think he's telling the truth," she said, barely able to believe her own words.

The crowd was silent in shock until someone further back yelled, "Bollocks!"

"Quiet you!" yelled Kahrin. Then more softly said, "that's not the look o' a woman who thinks she's lyin'."

"I'm not lying," Kal piped in, "Though I didn't mention before that I had some help," the crowd took on a questioning tone, "who or what that was will have to stay a secret, I'm afraid. What you should be asking instead, is 'what did he bring back?'" Kal reached into a pouch and pulled out a something wrapped in a piece of linen, as he held it out a chain fell out of one side. Picking it up by the chain he pulled the cloth away and a collective gasp ran through the crowd as the pendant slowly spun.

One of the nearer patrons whispered, "Bloody hell, if ya told me ya went ta the depths of hell fer that I'd believe ya now."

Kal had learned early on that magic crystals only lit up when energy moved through them, a fully charged crystal was indistinguishable from a depleted one when not being used or charged. He also knew that flawless crystals naturally absorbed magic from the world around them. Combined with how the amethyst constantly dissipated magic there was a constant flow running through the crystal making it faintly light up the purple-blue gem around it and the moonstone in front.

Kal took the chain on both hands and pulled it over Perra's head with Kahrin stepping up and lifting the hair out of the way for the stunned girl.

"For those of you with sticky fingers!" Kal called out, "I hate to disappoint you but Lady Perra here is the only one able to touch this particular jewel." He placed his hand over the pendant and activated the rune etched into the inside of the metal plate it was attached to. From that point on only she could wear it until the time she decided to give it away, the rune forever powered by the tiny flawless crystal.

Kahrin stepped back and said, "There's a sayin' for times like these back in the land I was born in:

Lá breithe shona duit!

B'fhéidir go bhfuil saol fada agat, croí sláintiúil, béal fliuch, b'fhéidir gurb é an chuid is mó is mian leat a gheobhaidh tú!

Happy birthday!

Maybe you have a long life, a healthy heart, a wet mouth, and may the most you want be the least you get!

Happy Birthday, Lady Perra!"

The crowd erupted in applause, cheers, and well wishes for the young woman.

* * *

Later on, Kal and Perra had moved off to the side of the dining room. Perra refused to give up her seat on his lap even as they moved away from the general din. Most of the inn's patrons had said their peace and ogled Perra's necklace before eventually returning to their cups. Perra kissed Kal lightly on the neck and whispered in his ear, "You've given me my gift now it's time to claim yours. Take me to bed."

"That's not fair Perra," he said standing up with her in his arms, "How is a pretty trinket supposed to compare to a gift like that?"

"Pretty trinket my arse, Kal, this belongs around the neck of a queen. Not me."

They ignored the catcalls and hoots coming from the dining room behind them as Kal walked up the stairs to the second floor and over to the room that he had purchased for the night.

"I guess that queen is out of luck then because it's yours now, not even I could take it away."

He opened the door and laid her on the bed, one of the inn's staff had come up a short while ago and lit some candles placing them about the room. He then pulled a chair over to the middle of the room and placed a stone upon it.

"What's that?" Perra asked.

"A gift from Ikuno, it keeps the sound from getting out."

Perra got a mischievous smile on her face, "Put it away."

Kal gave her a questioning look.

"Let them hear," she said still smiling, "now it's up to you to give them something to hear."

"Challenge accepted," Kal said deactivating the stone and putting it away.

Kal walked over to the bed and pulled Perra up on her feet then turned her away from him. Wrapping his arms around her he just held her for a few minutes as she relaxed in his arms. Bringing a hand up he pushed her hair to the side and started kissing the back of her neck, getting a contented sigh from the young woman.

She let out a small gasp and he reached around and untied the laces holding the front of her dress together. Her breathing quickened as he slowly pushed it off her shoulders, the entire dress falling to her feet and leaving her standing in just her shift. Kal ran his hands down her back to her hips then back up her sides before moving over to undo the knot holding the shift in place. When Perra felt it loosen she spun around and pressed herself to his chest, her breath coming in quick gasps that were a mixture of arousal and fear of the unknown.

"Scared?" he asked.

Perra nodded.

"Don't be, I have you," he said lifting her chin and kissing her as he pulled her close. His tongue tapped at her lips, begging entrance, she let him in and soon their tongues were swirling around one another.

His hand came up and pushed her shift off one shoulder, she pulled her arm out of the sleeve and it immediately went around his back holding his body tight to hers. He ran his fingers through her hair as the other hand came up and slid the shift off her other shoulder, her arm again going around him and pressing the only piece of cloth still covering her between them.

Kal removed his cloak and boots without letting the fabric drop. He even managed to pull his shirt over his head with just a quick break in the kiss, however, the fabric of the shift slipped as he was undoing his belt, exposing one of her breasts which she quickly mashed into his chest with a squeak of surprise into Kal's mouth. He slowly undid his belt the rest of the way and pulled it through the loops tossing it over where it landed with a clatter somewhere in the vicinity of his shirt. Using one arm to hold Kal tightly, Perra began tugging at the waist of his pants, pulling them downward with one hand. Ignoring that this would be easier if he undid the front fastener he worked on the other side until his trousers finally dropped to the floor where he stepped out of them and kicked them off to the side.

Now that he was completely undressed Kal put his hands on her hips and pushed away. Perra whined from anxiety but allowed the shift to drop to his hands which Kal quickly let fall to the floor. She then pressed into his body even harder and mashed her lips to his as her heartbeat raced and her breathing sped up even more. Kal broke the kiss and held her just as tightly with one hand while the other explored her back, sides, and arms. As Perra got her breathing under control she became aware of Kal's hardened cock pressed up against her belly, it felt huge squeezed in between them.

Kal lifted Perra a couple inches off the floor and laid her down on the bed, with his body just over hers he had her flip over onto her belly. Reaching down next to one of the bed's legs he searched around for a moment before finding a small bottle of oil he had hidden earlier when he paid for the room. Straddling her legs, he dripped some of the oil on her back and began working it in with his hands feeling the tension in the young woman slowly fade. While the massage did wonders for her anxiety over what was to come, it did nothing for her arousal. Possibly making it more acute since it was no longer contending with fear for her attention.

Finishing with her back and arms Kal hopped off the bed. Skipping over her rear, he went to work on her legs. By the time he had worked his way from foot to thigh on the second leg Perra was making small mewling sounds and was certain that there was a wet spot beneath her sex. Kal drizzled some oil over her rear to warn her of his next target. As his hands pressed into the soft flesh he made certain to pay extra attention to the flesh where her thigh and bottom met, stimulating the lips of her pussy by moving the area around them. Kal was also enjoying the view as he spread her cheeks apart and got nice long glimpses of her pucker as well as the lips and opening of her sex.

Perra was panting and Kal could see where her hair was stuck to her face from sweating. Starting at the back of her neck he ran an oiled hand down her spine across her lower back and into the gap between her asscheeks. Perra jumped but didn't complain as his fingers glided over her anus and proceeded further down, sliding over both of her pussy lips until his fingertips brushed across her clit. A few lazy circles around her pearl sent Perra screaming into the pillow as her legs shook then snapped together on his arm. Kal lightly brushed his other hand up and down the young woman's legs as she rode out her orgasm.

After a few seconds, she relaxed into the bed and let Kal's hand go, turning her head to the side so she could catch her breath.

Kal leaned over and nibbled at her ear for a moment before asking, "Ready to turn over?"

Perra gasped and tensed up at the idea, but only for a moment before realizing that there wasn't much left for him to see. During his massage he had slowly spread her legs apart, so he had likely seen all of her important bits. She thought for a moment about what was holding her back and came to the conclusion she was scared of disappointing him, compared to the other women in his life she was normal, plain, boring. Her thoughts flickered to her necklace, no matter how boring she was he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making something like that for someone he didn't care about. She decided it was time to face reality and steeled herself for his look of disappointment as she nodded.

Perra was more than a little surprised at the rapt look on Kal's face as she turned over. She didn't understand how unique she was in Kal's eyes, or that she had turned into a truly beautiful young woman during her time living with him. All of the other women he had been with were older then Kal. The closest being Kahrin who was in her mid to late twenties and he assumed Bea was in the same range. Perra's natural beauty combined with her being younger than him and a human, his body was having an intense reaction to seeing her lying nude on the bed. Perra allowed herself a tiny smile at the look of genuine appreciation on his face.

Kal steadied himself for a moment fighting the desire to throw himself on the woman and ravish her. The sensible part of his brain would never let it happen, but the urge was there. Taking the bottle, he dripped it over her torso making sure that a couple drops fell directly on her hard nipples. Kal started massaging her tummy and slowly made his way upward. He tried to give equal massage time from neck to waist, but his hands seemed to gravitate towards her breasts and their darker colored tips. He was constantly finding himself running his hands over them and brushing across her nipples with his fingers. Perra was amazed at how much better Kal's rough fingers felt on the sensitive skin than her own.

Giving in to his urges a little bit Kal bent over and took one of the hard nubbins in his mouth. Perra gasped, her back arching slightly as one hand came up to the back of his head and pressed his face into the oil-slickened breast. Her other hand started making its way towards her clit until Kal's larger hand blocked her. After gently pulling it's hood back he began teasing her swollen clit with the lightest of touches and brushes. Each touch was like a shock to Perra's body and the girl let out a long moan full of desire. As Kal switched to the other breast she knew another climax was soon on its way. Perra saw a way to put her free hand to use out the corner of her eye and reached over grabbing the base of Kal's cock.

Everything stopped for a moment before Kal's hand, which had been making a poor attempt at continuing the massage, came back and grabbed her wrist to hold it in place. His head came up and he gave her a pleading look.

"Don't, I'm close," he gasped fighting back the urge to come.

Perra couldn't hide her surprise, and delight, that she had turned him on so much, "I thought the girls would have…"

Kal shook his head smiling, "Not for the past week, they got together and decided to wait for you. I did too."

Perra actually felt bad for a moment, she had assumed that he had an outlet for her incessant teasing over the last seven days. With a look of determination, she decided to shove her nervousness off to the side and put her lessons with Kahrin earlier to good use. Kal's eyes widened in shock as Perra leaned over and took the head of his cock in her mouth while pressing against the resistance of his hand to squeeze and stroke the base. Kal's hand left her wrist and went to the back of her head as Kahrin had told her to expect, but he never pushed her down onto his prick. Perra rolled her lips back and forth across the sensitive base of the head as her freed hand stroked more of the shaft.

Kal had just enough sense left to start making little circles around her clit before his orgasm swept into him.

"Perra, I'm…" was as far as he got before he started filling the teen's mouth with his seed. The first couple of spurts had just hit her tongue when the combination Kal's fingers vibrating her clit, along with her already being close, and the excitement of making a man cum for the first time all came together to send Perra over the edge a second time. She let out a muffled shriek as she came with his cock still in her mouth while fighting against the desire to clench her teeth.

Kal had closed his eyes as he came and looked down as his orgasm abated. Seeing his cock buried in Perra's mouth with a tiny bit of his cum dripping out one side while her body shook from her own climax was so arousing Kal wondered if he would need to worry about going soft at all. As she started to come down she took one long final suck before lightly swabbing the head with her tongue. Remembering one of her last lessons from earlier, Perra laid back in the bed then locked eyes with Kal before closing her eyes and swallowing down the contents of her mouth with a smile. Flushing red with her own brazenness she brought a finger up and wiped what had escaped earlier off her chin and sucked it off while looking up at him. Part of her wanted to run and hide in embarrassment that she could act like some wanton whore but that was quickly slapped down by the rush of power she felt over this man as he stared at her with barely contained lust and made even more exciting when she saw his cock, that had been going soft, twitch and start to rise again.

Perra then tried another of Kahrin's tricks: beg. She spread her legs just a tiny bit and looked up into Kal's eyes then slid a hand down, nudging his out of the way she used two fingers to barely open her lips and said, "Please?"

Part of Kal wondered how he seemed to have lost control of this whole encounter. All the other parts were so aroused by the girl's actions they didn't give a damn and told the first part to shut the fuck up.

Kal was more than hard enough to take Perra right now but he had come in with a plan, and he intended to stick to it as much as he could. He kissed his way up from her ankle lifting her leg up then laying it over to the side with the knee bent as he made his way up her inner thigh. Giving her pussy a long swipe with his tongue from bottom to top that made Perra squeal he then did the same with the other leg, so she was completely opened up in front of him.

Perra was panting again as he bent down and began running his tongue up and over the lips of her sex. Kal worked the girl up to fever pitch nibbling and toying with her lips, probing inside her with his tongue, and occasionally coming up and taking small swipes at her clit. As she got closer to cumming he secretly oiled up his cock. When she was on the very edge he moved up her body and kissed her, his cock brushing against her opening. She gasped into his mouth at the contact then one of her hands slid down between them so her fingers were on her clit.

Perra nodded and her fingers flew over her pearl as Kal slowly pushed inside. She felt the sting of losing her virginity only a moment before her world exploded from the feeling of being completely filled. Perra's arms wrapped around Kal's back and neck as she mashed their lips together with bruising force, screaming into his mouth with the intensity of her orgasm. Kal lowered his weight down onto her hoping to keep her from accidentally hurting herself. Unwittingly that made him push even deeper into her pussy making the head of his cock brush up against her cervix and setting her off a second time.

By the time Perra let Kal go his lips felt they were twice their normal size and he was sure he had claw marks on his back from her fingernails. Kal cautiously pulled out and slid back in checking for any signs of pain, Perra didn't even wince.

Her eyes fluttered as she opened them then looked up at Kal smiling, "More, please."

Kal began sliding in and out of Perra's tight welcoming sex, "As you wish."

* * *

Far away in Ikuno's cave the blue oni tossed and turned in her sleep.

Ikuno walked along a barren stretch of land, dry and cracked by the heat. A red sun, though high in the sky, offered little light and less warmth as it had to get through thick billowing gray clouds that stretched all the way to the ground in every direction. Clay snapped and shattered beneath her feet as she attempted to inspect her surroundings.

She felt a presence coming closer and spun to face it, summoning her iron club.

And woke up in her bed.

Ikuno looked over next to her at the iron club in her hand, summoned while she was asleep.

Something was very wrong.

* * *

Back on the astral plane two eyes with glowing green irises appeared in the gray mists and looked about, frantically searching for something that was supposed to have been there.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Perra and Kahrin both squealed like little girls and came together in a big hug as soon as they saw each other the next morning. After some quick chatter and complaints from both of them about being sore, the two women disappeared into the back of the inn. Kal was curious about why Kahrin would be sore as he sat down next to Bren, who was eyeing him warily.

"Did I do something wrong, Bren?" Kal asked.

The big man grunted and smiled, "Next time you make a girl into a woman. Pick a different room. Kahrin thought it a challenge to try to keep up with you two."

Kal tilted his head in confusion then thought about the layout of the inn for a moment. His and Perra's room had been right above Bren's.

Kal let out a hearty laugh, "Every time?"

"You two aren't exactly quiet."

"That explains why Kahrin told Perra she was sore too."

"Not that you could tell from fuckin' her. We just got back out here after your good morning romp when you came down. The blasted woman had one of the kitchen helpers listening for you to start up again. Damned if you didn't, too."

Kal laughed and patted the big man on the arm as he stood up after seeing the women coming back out. His hand lingered for just a moment as the healing rune lit up.

"You're a good man, Master Kal. You'll be a proper saint if you don't do the same for Kahrin. My boys need a rest from last night."

Kal stood as the girls walked up, Perra coming over and giving him a passionate, and very minty, kiss.

"What were you two conspiring about?" Kahrin asked Bren archly.

"Been tellin' Master Kal that I'm looking forward to him and Lady Perra leaving so I can get some proper rest," said the large man grinning up at the barmaid.

A voice came from halfway across the dining room interrupted, "I 'ope yer not needing too much rest," said Ada walking towards the group. "Ya seem to 'ave forgotten that my room is jus' on the other side of Bren's, Kahrin. I had ta listen to all four of ya all bloody night. I'm needing a bit o' relief m'self after all that."

Bren stood up and met the blonde barmaid partway, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder to the sound of her shrieks of protest. "Good day, Master Kal. Good day, Lady Perra," he said over Ada's half-hearted complaints that she hadn't meant right this second. He then gave her a pat on the rear and walked into the back of the inn.

"Be back before lunch rush!" Kahrin called after them.

Perra was wide-eyed, "She can take that too?"

Kahrin laughed, "No, she just gets fingers. As big as his are, that's enough for the lass. In return, she'll wrap those tits of hers around him or hold her legs tight together and let him fuck her between the thighs. Bren will get his, don't ye worry," she said smiling.

Kal and Perra bid the barmaid farewell and headed for the stable master to pick up Bonn. Kal let Perra get up first. She was feeling pretty tender at the moment and was just starting to regret their morning activities. She winced as Kal mounted up behind her and accidentally ground her pussy into the saddle. Kal noticed and just held out the arm with the healing rune in front of her. Perra shook her head, she had become a woman last night and considered this to be a part of the whole experience, uncomfortable as it was.

Kal called over one of the stable hands. With a squeak of surprise from Perra, he lifted her off the saddle and let her down into the hands of the stable worker. He then took off his travel cloak and folded it over before laying it on the saddle in front of him. Finally, he motioned to the stableboy to pass a very indignant looking Perra back up and carefully lowered her onto the saddle.

"I would've been fine," she grumped as Kal directed Bonn out of the stable and towards home.

"I know, but since you won't let me heal you I don't see any reason for you to be more uncomfortable than necessary," he replied.

Perra was thoughtful for a moment, "I don't think you should offer anymore Kal."

"Fair enough I won't then."

"Not just me, silly man," Perra's voice took on a hint of sadness, "I doubt I'm the last virgin you will be with. From now on you shouldn't offer to heal them."

"Why's that?"

"What if you healed everything right now and it brought back my maidenhead? You worked so hard to make my first time special," her hand came up and touched her pendant, "I'd hate for all that to go to waste and make our next time hurt."

Kal had to admit she had a point, "So, I did a good enough job to warrant a 'next time'?" Kal asked with a smirk.

Perra half-turned to look at him and gave him a mischievous smile, "You better damn well believe it. Just give me a couple of days."

"Oh, really?" Kal said. They had just passed out of town and Kal laid the reins down, letting Bonn take them home. His hands came up to gently massage Perra's breasts through her dress as he started lightly kissing her neck.

Perra sighed and relaxed against him, "Maybe just until tomorrow."

* * *

Kal found himself in a surprisingly challenging situation, between keeping up with Ikuno and Perra over the next week. Ikuno was more insatiable than usual. Blaming it to not knowing the identity of the person hunting her and the added stress of a strange dream she had where she woke up with her iron club in her hand. When Kal was at home Perra seemed intent on taking every opportunity to make certain his balls stayed empty and her sex stayed full. By the end of the week, Kal was thankful that Gerda's sex drive was subdued compared to the other two.

A week after their night together Kal was woken up early that morning by a warm wet mouth on his prick.

Kal groggily opened one eye, "Perra?"

The young woman hummed an affirmative.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why?" he noticed that while it felt good she wasn't bobbing her head trying to get him off.

Her mouth slid off him with a pop, "Not sure, to be honest. Part of me wanted to come in here and drain you dry so you wouldn't have anything left for Bea. I didn't think you would appreciate that very much.

"Neither would Bea," he said reaching down and pulling her on top of him. He'd only meant to hold her, but she pulled up her shift and threw a leg over his hips then quickly lined up and sank down on his erection. A happy smile spread across her face as she adjusted to his size, a moment later she laid down on his chest. Once she was settled he asked, "Still having a hard time not being my only woman?"

"Sometimes. I think sharing you with Ikuno this last week has helped. On days like today, it's hard not to feel a little jealous."

"What's so special about today?" Kal asked even though he was certain of her answer.

"Because you are going to give Bea a baby."

"You're jealous because…?"

"Dammit, Kal! You know why!" she whispered, not wanting to wake his mother.

"No, I don't Perra. Your birthday was a week ago and not once have we talked about children. Every time we've made love your breath smells of mint and I know perfectly well what that means. I was under the impression that you didn't want to have any kids with me. Not that would I blame you, I don't know when I'll be setting out on this 'grand adventure' Ikuno keeps talking about. It will be hard for me to be the father you are wanting me to be when I'm far away studying magic."

"You are doing it with Bea and Aradelle, well… Bea at least."

"True, but that was after they beat it into my head that monster girl societies developed without the need for fathers, unlike human culture. It's a luxury to Bea and Aradelle and Gerda's sisters that I'm doing this for them and will actually care about their… our kids." Kal felt himself start to soften and slid in and out of her a few times until he was hard again. "I've made my peace with not being the father to my children that I wanted to be. The real question is are you willing to bear my children, knowing that I won't be around much, maybe even years at a time."

"Absolu…"

Kal held up a finger to her lips, "Not yet, this isn't a decision to make on a whim. I know you love me, Perra, and I love you too, but right now there's a lot of lust behind that. Especially since you've found a new favorite toy to play with," Kal made his cock twitch inside her. "Let things calm down some, then make your choice."

Perra smiled, "You aren't even two years older than I am, how did you become so wise?"

Kal chuckled, "By whose reckoning? I doubt Ikuno or mother would agree with you. However, I have been through quite a bit since we first met. Learned magic, saved lives, nearly died a couple of times. I think I'd have to be heartless for that to not change me somehow."

Perra laid her head down on his chest, "Promise me this. You won't leave until you have my answer."

He ran his fingers through her hair, "I promise. You still have quite a bit of time I think. Ikuno believes that I'm quickly outgrowing the book I'm working from and will have to seek out an actual runesmith master or a better tome soon. That said, I still have a good way to go before I'm done studying what I have available. Then there's Gerda, she and Ikuno both seem to think I have an affinity for geomancy. I want to explore that before I consider heading out.

"Speaking of heading out," Kal began sliding his cock in and out of the girl lying on top of him making Perra's breath catch. "I won't be seeing Bea until later in the morning and it looks like someone wants to take a little bit of me with her for the rest of the day."

Perra just nodded as Kal made tiny thrusts up into her welcoming sex. Occasionally he would change things up with some long slow strokes making the girl bite the blanket to keep from moaning. Kal was having a hard time maintaining his slow pace. He really wanted to flip her over and pound her pussy until they both came but couldn't for fear of waking his mother. When Perra's body tightened up with her climax it only took a couple more excruciatingly slow strokes before he coated her cervix with cum.

After a couple of minutes of cuddling, Kal went soft and slipped out of the young woman. Perra gave him a tender kiss before she got up from the bed. After smoothing out her shift she flashed him a quick smile and disappeared out the door. Kal was content she understood what he was trying to say but hoped he hadn't overloaded the girl with such serious talk. A few minutes after she left he drifted off to sleep again.

* * *

Bea was ecstatic when Kal finally showed up to Aradelle's clearing. That lasted until the moment Aradelle's vines wrapped around her arms and legs and lifted her into the air. Earlier, Kal had sent a strong impression to Aradelle over their bond of what he wanted to do with the butterfly girl. He was almost startled at the enthusiasm of her response.

Aradelle wrapped a vine around Bea's mouth to stop her complaints about being hoisted into the air. Meanwhile, Kal stripped off his clothes as he approached the women, trying desperately to maintain the cold hard stare he was giving Bea. The way both sets of eyes were drawn to his prick like magnets when he dropped his trousers was almost comical.

"Open!" he barked at the butterfly girl. Her chitin bodice clicked as it unhooked and moved to the side even as a hint of fear worked its way into her expression. Kal had decided to play on Bea's fetish to be controlled by a strong male. Aradelle lowered Bea down and he took just a moment to line up before he sank into the butterfly girl in one stroke. He then leaned over and growled in her ear, "Time to be bred, woman." That had been the perfect thing to say judging by the burst of happiness that came through her bond and the climax that rocked her body. He hadn't even started moving yet.

Two hours later, a pregnant and very happy Bea was flitting back to her home in the treetops. Bea had explained that she would give birth to an egg in a couple of months. Another month after that, their daughter would hatch and begin a voracious diet of milk and leaves for the next couple of years. Only stopping to hibernate with her mother during the colder months. She would then continue to feed on leaves for the next decade or so until ready for adulthood. At which point she would create a cocoon and months later emerge as a smaller version of her mother.

Kal was also surprised to discover that his daughter would look somewhat different from what he had imagined. Bea described her species offspring as looking like human babies with a smoky tint to their skin. Like their smaller cousins, bright orange spots ran down their back to warn off predators. As strange as that sounded to him, he was very happy to find out she wouldn't have big black spines along her back.

Once Bea had left, Kal stayed and talked with Aradelle for a couple more hours. Not only because he enjoyed her company but it also allowed him to recharge for a little bit of intimate time with Aradelle before he left.

Kal groaned inwardly when he arrived at the base of the mountain and saw the hungry look on Gerda's face. After a quick stop in the cave where they had originally met, Kal was feeling more drained than he had since his night with Aradelle. Perhaps his morning tryst with Perra had been a bad idea.

Stepping out of the rock face next to Ikuno's home he was met with another predatory stare from the large blue woman waiting for them. Kal's shoulders slumped and his head drooped in resignation.

Ikuno couldn't help laughing at his reaction, "I'm well aware that you've been taking care of your women all day. Come inside and get a warm meal, then I think we should spar for a bit and you can spend the rest of the night studying. However, if you are interested in a little action before bed I'll be very happy to accommodate you.

"Knowing you put a baby in Bea today has got all of us worked up. Don't be surprised if this happens when Gerda's sisters arrive as well." Ikuno turned to Gerda, "How is that coming by the way?"

Gerda seemed to still be reveling in the afterglow from their rendezvous and Ikuno had to repeat herself before she answered. "Sandy will be coming soon. Bas will let me know when she's ready. Marble won't come until the other two are safe. Humans almost caught her when she was young. She's still very cautious."

"Understandable." She turned back to Kal. "Ready to eat something?"

* * *

A blue clawed foot sent Kal flying up into the air. Before he could come up with a plan for either retaliation or escape, his eyes widened in surprise when suddenly Ikuno was next to him in the air. Her upper body twisted, windmilling her leg as she spun and bringing her heel down onto his back. Kal hurtled towards the ground and hit hard enough to bounce. The moment he landed he rolled away from Ikuno and jumped to his feet, gasping for breath. The strength rune shining on his arm protected him from breaking ribs but not getting the wind knocked out of him. Kal instinctively dropped into his fighting stance before realizing she wasn't coming after him.

"Dammit Ikuno. What's gotten into you lately?" Kal asked, annoyed. "You seem more interested in beating the hell out of me than teaching me anything. I can't keep up with you when you go all out yet."

"It's not 'what's gotten into me.' It's 'what's hunting me.' How do you think you would have fared if the wolf had come from the west and ran into you first? Aradelle had the help of her ancestor's memories and was able to take care of herself. Do you really think you would have done as well?"

Kal blanched at the thought. "No, I don't think I would have," he answered sounding subdued.

"Before, I could take things slow and teach you in steps, but we don't have that kind of time anymore. You need to learn and learn fast. I won't take a chance on losing you just because I wasn't hard enough on you about being able to protect yourself." Ikuno dropped into her stance, "By the way, I'm not 'going all out'… yet."

Kal groaned as the oni came rushing at him once again.

* * *

"Enough, Ikuno!" Kal yelled in frustration, picking himself up off the ground for the umpteenth time that day. "You're too damn fast for me, I can't even follow what you are doing anymore! How am I supposed to learn anything when I can't even see what I'm supposed to be learning?"

Ikuno put her hands down and relaxed, "That's exactly the point, Kal. When you explained how you chased down Bea I knew then there was a problem. Your reaction time is far too slow, so you had to plan your moves ahead of time. While I was impressed at first with your ability to use the terrain, I quickly realized that kind of thinking is useless in combat. Any plan you make will only last until you engage the enemy. This entire time you've been trying to plan what I will do, and you've lost every time, miserably I might add. What you see as me moving too fast is just me moving in a way you didn't expect. By rights, you were doing better months ago than you did today. Remember your forms and let the motions flow through you. Don't plan, just act and react. Trust in your training, you've become more skilled than you give yourself credit for." Ikuno readied herself, "Again."

Kal closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to steady and center himself. "Flow, don't plan, act, react. Don't think, just move," he repeated the mantra a few times before bringing his hands up and positioning his legs, but he didn't open his eyes yet. He looked inside himself at the roiling ball of energy that was his natural magic reserves. It was many times the size of when he first learned he could see magic, a testament to how much his abilities had grown. He let that power flow into him and fill him up, "Act, react, don't think just move," he said opening his eyes to take in the oni in front of him.

Gerda stood up straight and stared at Kal from where she had been leaning against the rock wall by the cave. Ikuno's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing and readying to attack. As the oni stepped in and began throwing punches and kicks Kal was able to block each one. He could tell she was moving faster now but he was letting his body do the work and flowing from one kata to the next with little effort.

Ikuno smiled and started changing tactics, coming from odd angles and adding feints to the mix. Her smile got even bigger as she saw Kal's speed rune flash for a fraction of a second, allowing him to move swiftly enough to block a knee headed for his ribs. The oni upped the pace and began landing glancing blows on the man. His speed rune flickered in response to her attacks more often as the stamina rune began glowing to ward off his fatigue. On a particularly hard blow, the healing rune shone for just a moment. Kal didn't seem to notice.

Ikuno managed a quick feint and even with the speed rune Kal couldn't get his arm up in time to block the real attack. Instead of connecting with his face, Ikuno's fist bounced off Kal's magic shield. The young man stared in shock at where his shield had been just a moment ago. He was still staring when Ikuno's fist connected with his jaw and sent him flying through the air to land a few paces away.

When her hand hit the shield, Ikuno had spun around and aimed for Kal's head with a full-force backhand. She barely had enough time to see that his runes had gone dark. Unfortunately, that included the one that enhanced his strength and protected him from serious harm. She only managed to partially check her swing, her fist still smashing into his face with enough force to send him flying.

The oni walked over to Kal's unconscious form lying in the grass and brought up her healing spells to fix what appeared to be a dislocated jaw. Ikuno looked over her shoulder in surprise when she heard the soft thumping of heavy feet coming towards her.

"Is he okay?" asked Gerda with a worried expression.

Ikuno turned back to Kal, "He will be in just a minute, he just did something that caught us both off guard."

"What happened to his eyes?"

"I don't know, and something tells me he probably doesn't either. We'll have to wait until he comes to."

A moment later Kal's eyes opened and he groaned in pain, though that was fading fast thanks to Ikuno.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead," said Ikuno.

Kal worked his jaw for a moment, "Feels like I got kicked by a horse."

"Worse, you got knocked out by an oni. Your eyes are back to normal, any ideas what happened there?"

Kal looked confused, "What about my eyes?" Then saw the golem standing behind Ikuno and not next to the rock wall "Gerda?" he asked.

"Your eyes were glowing blue. I came over to see if you were okay," said the golem then immediately started glancing around nervously.

Kal smiled at the rock girl, "I'm fine Gerda you don't have to stay if it makes you uncomfortable."

The golem nodded and quickly made her way back to the rock face next to the cave as Kal got to his feet. "Any ideas about the eyes?" Kal asked Ikuno.

"Not a clue, can you tell me what was going on in your head before that last bout?"

Kal thought for a few moments then explained what he had been thinking while his eyes had been closed.

Ikuno gave him a thoughtful look, "You said that you filled yourself with magic. Can you do it again?"

"I think so?" said Kal with a hint of uncertainty.

"Try, it's the only thing that makes sense out of what you told me."

Kal shrugged and looked inward where he saw the sphere of magic within him. For the second time, he let that power fill his entire body before looking up at Ikuno. The oni's raised eyebrow and Gerda's gasp from over by the cave told him all he needed to know.

Kal was beginning to feel a bit uneasy with this latest development. "Any idea what it means?"

"Sorry, no."

"Do you think it could hurt me?"

Ikuno thought for a moment, "No I don't think it will. I've told you before that monster girls carry large amounts of magic with them. If I'm not mistaken, Gerda still has you beaten by far in raw power at your disposal. If it doesn't affect them negatively I don't think it will for you either. It's just a guess but I'm fairly confident in my reasoning.

"Doesn't seem like there's much reason to do it then," said Kal as he stopped concentrating and his eyes returned to normal.

"I'm not sure I would go that far, Kal," said the oni.

"Eh?"

"Your reaction time was far better than in the last match. Also, your runes were working as an extension of your will, making sure that you were quick enough to block me along with keeping you from getting tired."

Kal looked down at his vambraces. He didn't remember using his runes in the fight until his shield popped up. In his mind, he replayed those last moments of the fight. He had frozen in surprise when the shield flashed into being since he had made no effort to summon it.

Kal's eyes glowed again as he filled his body with magic once more. The shield flickered in and out of existence a half dozen times before he spoke. "I think I see what's happening," he said, "I'm just barely connected to all of the runes right now." He made an impromptu light show as the runes lit up in rapid succession from one side to the other and back before all of them flashed at once a few times. "By maintaining that connection all I have to do is give them enough power to activate them."

"Sounds like you are wasting magic," said Ikuno

"I am," said Kal as he used his ability to watch energy trickle out of the unlit runes. "It's not enough to matter though. I think the trade-off is worth it."

"Let's see about that," said Ikuno moving back far enough so they could square off. "I've been attacking this whole time. It's your turn now. Use whatever runes you want. Just don't hold back."

Kal groaned inwardly, this usually didn't end well for him. Ikuno was a far better fighter and new counters to everything he threw at her. He also wasn't encouraged by the new stance she was using. Her back foot was turned to the side, her hands open and arms slightly extended but down by her waist instead of up protecting her face as she taught him.

Strength, stamina and haste runes all glowed. Kal waited a moment for the haste rune to spin up before launching an attack and promptly finding himself flat on his back. Despite his speed, Ikuno had grabbed his arm and pulled downward throwing him off balance. With little more than a light pat on his hip, he toppled over onto the grass beside her.

The oni gave him pointers on his form and how to make the most of each strike as she threw, flipped, and pushed Kal to the ground with frustrating ease.

"This new style of yours, is it purely defensive?" Kal asked the oni.

Ikuno just raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to come at her again.

Kal swore under his breath thinking he should have kept his mouth shut. Sure enough, when he went to attack she stepped into him with an arm coming across his upper chest and neck. She pushed him up and back just slightly but enough to make him lose his balance yet again. Her hand hooked around his neck and she pulled sideways and down. Introducing his head to the dirt at high velocity, her other hand came around with a punch to the gut that left him feeling like he had been kicked by a horse. No small feat with two protection runes active.

Ikuno hissed in pain and immediately brought up her healing spell to fix her hand which she figured was badly sprained at the very least. Meanwhile, Kal curled up into a ball, holding his stomach as his own healing magic went to work. A minute or so later Ikuno wiggled her fingers, verifying that nothing had been broken. At the same time Kal rolled over onto his back, his healing rune dark after completing its own task.

"That may have gone a bit too far, call it a day?" asked Ikuno.

Kal wiped the perspiration from his forehead, getting a whiff of his sweaty armpit. "Sure thing," he said, "right after a bath."

Ikuno smiled and helped him to his feet, "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

* * *

As usual, there had been just as much groping going on as cleaning. Having to choose between two pairs of water slickened breasts for his hands to run over was something Kal wasn't going to complain about. Gerda especially seemed to be intrigued by the whole concept of bathing. Kal had never noticed any odd smells from the golem so he knew she must do something along those lines. He remembered that deep down in the mana cave, where his fire resistance rune had been nudging its limiter, not once did he ever see her sweat. For a moment he wondered if it was even possible for her to sweat. If so, would it be the same strangely slick fluid as came from her sex?

When he finally asked her how she kept clean, she just smiled and stepped out of the waterfall. Striking a pose, Gerda sunk down into the rock of the mountain, leaving a puddle behind her. She then appeared again a few paces away, sparkling clean and completely dry. Kal couldn't even smell the soaps he had been using on her minutes ago.

Kal also washed his dusty, sweaty clothes. He had small mending and cleaning runes on leather tags sewed into his clothing, but he never felt that the magic did quite as good of a job as handwashing. Then again, the runes on the tags were straight from the book, Kal hadn't bothered to improve them.

As he laid his clothes on the sun-warmed rocks, Kal was somewhat surprised at how comfortable he had become being nude around the women. However, the hungry look Ikuno kept giving his crotch almost made him wish his pants were dry.

The only major problem with Ikuno's pool was that it was filled by the runoff from the waterfall. This meant that if you washed under the waterfall the water in the pool would get dirty. As they waited for the pool to clear Gerda and Kal were working on his geomancy as Ikuno looked on.

"We will start with the table," Kal watched as Gerda waved her hand over where she wanted the table. Ghostly ropes of magic that only Kal could see stretched out from the golem's hands and tied themselves to the stone in a circle in front of her. She then made the same motion as in the cavern where Kal had made Perra's necklace. A round section of stone raised up until waist-high as she acted like she was lifting a large heavy cauldron.

Kal repeated the same process, trying to match the thick tendrils of magic that Gerda had used and nearly succeeding. Copying the golem, he gathered the ropes and lifted, only to have his arms stopped dead.

Kal looked down in confusion as Gerda walked over to his belongings and grabbed his vambrace. Bringing it back and putting it in his hand, she said, "Rock is heavy, use that." Kal put the bracer on and as the strength rune came to life he dragged the column of rock up to waist height like the one next to it.

Ikuno burst into laughter from off to the side, "The mountain has nipples!"

Ignoring the laughing oni, Kal worked to disengage the magic cables when Gerda said, "Very good, do it again." She lifted her right leg and Kal saw tendrils of energy race from her raised foot to the tops of the two small pillars.

"Wait! Ger…!" Kal was cut off as her foot came down and neatly flattened both tables back into the rock, dragging him along with. Kal found himself staring at the stone that a moment ago had been just in front of his feet. He finished releasing the tethers and slowly got up, checking to be sure he was okay. Other than a small scrape on the end of his nose where it brushed the rock he seemed to be fine. Ikuno was now wheezing from laughing so hard. Kal threw her an annoyed look that only set her off worse.

"What happened?" asked the very confused golem.

"I was still tied to the table when you pushed it down," he said slipping the bracer over his forearm and tying it.

"Oh… Work quicker next time. Do it again. I'll give you a time limit to 'untie.'"

The next two times Kal managed to make the small stone table fairly quickly but was dragged to the ground as Gerda reset the stone with a stomp of her foot.

By the fourth time, Kal was beginning to feel a good amount of heat coming off the table from being raised and lowered. This was also when Gerda stopped him and asked why it took so long to disengage from the rock.

"The magic for these 'ropes' isn't really coming from me anymore, so I can't just cut the flow and they'll disappear. Even if I try to drop them they are still attached to me somehow, that's what happened the last time," Kal said with no small amount of confusion. He was starting to long for the familiarity of his runesmithing book.

"Cut it," said the golem matter-of-factly.

"I just said I can't. It's like I'm creating a physical thing made out of magic. Cutting the flow won't work."

"Not the magic, the rope."

Kal had been standing there with his arms out from raising the table. He mentally formed a thin blade of magic and sliced through the tendrils he was holding, to no avail. They reformed as quickly as the blade passed through. Next, he tried coming from the inside. He sent a pulse along the rope that went just past his hands then severed the connection in all directions at once. The magic cables dissipated moments later. As his hands finally fell to his sides he admitted that it worked, but he wasn't very happy with it.

"Gerda, could you show me how you do it? I've come up with a way to cut them, but it seems terribly slow compared to yours."

Gerda shrugged and pulled the column up once again, this time with Kal looking closely at her hands. A moment before she released the spell the tendril shrank like it was being pinched off just in front of her hands. A second later the same thing happened next to her foot as she stomped it down. After watching, Kal felt he had a good idea of how the golem did it.

Kal got a small blast of heat and looked over to see a glowing ring in the stone marking the edges of the column they kept raising and lowering. Smiling, he again pulled the small pillar of stone up, its sides glowing dull red from the friction. Instead of cutting the tendrils he drew the energy back into his hands. Like Gerda's, they seemed to pinch off and separate almost instantly.

Having never tried to do magic with his feet Kal failed comically trying to copy Gerda's stomp method. Instead, he overlapped his hands high up on his chest and pushed down which had the very unexpected result of lifting him up into the air. Ikuno nearly fell over laughing as a surprised Kal kicked his legs futilely in the air. Severing the magic ties, he dropped to the stone.

"Anchor feet, then try," said Gerda, lifting a leg then leaning in all directions while the foot on the ground never budged.

"Magic with feet," Kal grumbled but concentrated on binding his heels to the rock below him then repeated the motion. This time the column slid back into the stone it came from making the ring glow just a bit brighter.

"If you two are done making the mountain's nipples hard," called Ikuno from over by the pool, "the water is clear, but it's still cold." Looking at Kal she smiled and said, "I think you should warm it up for us this time." Kal glanced over at the glowing ring then started walking towards the pool with a sigh.

* * *

After getting the water up to a tolerable temperature, Kal and Gerda spent some time making stone seats and benches in the shallower end. Bubbles of boiling water still ran off the column that sat just below where the pool filled. Once heated, the rock seemed to maintain its temperature for a very long time. In the deeper end, Gerda smoothed the rock on the sides and bottom of the pool as if she hadn't been underwater for the last half-hour.

Kal leaned back, putting his head in between Ikuno's breasts and letting the warm water loosen tight muscles from the day's activities. Ikuno's hand, with magically dulled claws, was also helping him release some tension as it languidly ran up and down his oni-sized cock.

Kal turned his head to the side so he could hear, "I'm curious Ikuno, why do you think my dick didn't shrink the other day when Bea wanted to try sucking it?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Keep in mind, magic can be strange. At times it's obedient and does exactly what you want, like any good tool. Other times like with Bea that day and with your bonds with the other girls, it seems to have a mind of its own. My best guess is that the compatibility spell determined Bea's intention and decided to let it happen since she wouldn't be hurt by it. It's very old magic I learned from Kithana back when the Tower of Prentas was still standing. It was also developed by Prentas himself and the man by all rights was a magical genius. It's hard to understand exactly how his mind, or his magic, worked. Kith just taught me the spell and gave me a quick rundown of how it functioned."

"You did mention that he had access to magics like teleportation that no one else has been able to conquer. What other kinds of things did he do? That were unique, I mean."

"First thing that comes to mind was magnetism. I told you he destroyed an entire army in a minute did I tell you how?"

Kal shook his head.

"He turned the metal in their own armor against them. Iron is widely known for absorbing magic and steel is made from iron. Prentas bypassed all that using magnetism. He created foci in the middle of every person associated with the army then created an insanely strong magnetic force at the focus. Full suits of armor were crushed into something only a bit larger than both of your fists put together. The armor's occupant didn't stand a chance. Knights and Paladins, squires in chainmail, soldiers in studded leather, even the supply personnel weren't spared. Every piece of metal turned into a deadly weapon. In a bit of misfortune, the cleric's battle gear had steel pauldrons. The rest of their adornment was mostly gold which isn't magnetic. If not for those they might have survived."

Kal cringed but remembered that this army had killed the man's city and most of the original monster girls, "What else was there?"

"He managed to do something special with lightning, Kith was cagey about that so I'm not sure exactly what it was. He learned how to fly using magic…"

Kal piped up, "I've actually been looking into that as well."

Ikuno looked down, "Really? How's that coming?"

"Nothing too deep just yet," Kal drew the rune for the telekinesis cantrip in the air but didn't activate it. "Levitas and Motus," he pointed to each glyph in turn while Ikuno looked on nodding. "It can make small, light objects fly but I don't see anything in the rune that limits the power, weight, or speed. It makes me think that the spell is inherently flawed. But then, it does leak magic like water through a sieve, so I think I already knew that."

"Ever think about jotting it down and tightening it up as you did with the rest of your runes?"

"I already did that, this is the final product."

Ikuno peered intently at it but since she never used the drawn version of the spell she couldn't tell what changes Kal had made.

"It's as though the rune is missing something, another primary glyph or some added dimension that I don't know or understand yet," said Kal.

"I wish you had mentioned this earlier, I may be of some help," said Ikuno. She stopped lightly running her fingers along his cock and held out a hand to summon one of her magic circles. "This is a greater telekinesis spell. With it, I can launch rocks and such about the size of your head at a good speed. It hardly ever gets used with such a small weight range."

Kal sat up and studied Ikuno's spell intently. Most of the outer two rings' purpose was to direct the magic back into the center, which seemed very odd to Kal. In the middle were the same two sigils only slightly different for Ikuno's style of magic.

Kal's eyes glowed blue as he looked up at the oni, "Activate it, please?"

Ikuno chose a rock nearby that was just a bit too big for the lesser cantrip and activated the spell, lifting it into the air.

"Ugh," said Kal in distaste.

"That bad?"

"Worse, if the small one is like water through a sieve, this is like a waterfall through a fishing net." As Kal looked on the outer rings were doing as he expected and directed some of the escaping magic back into the middle of the spell increasing its power. He was surprised to see that the leakage was mostly coming from the center which was unusual with far more coming from Levitas than from Motus. However, this was the only spell he knew that used two primary glyphs, he had a feeling that was the issue. As he stared at the spell he began to get feeling far off in the corner of his mind that there was a glyph that combined these two. For a moment he managed to grab onto the idea and in his mind began getting tiny impressions of a very complex glyph that should go into the center. A moment later the feeling was gone before he could commit anything to memory.

Kal sat back, his eyes going back to their natural color, "Dammit."

"Something wrong?" asked Ikuno, lowering the rock and releasing the spell.

"It felt like I almost had it, like a word on the tip of your tongue that you just can't remember."

"You're being a bit vague, Kal," she said with a hint of annoyance.

"Sorry, there's another glyph that should go in the middle. A combination of those two and does the same thing without pissing magic away into the air," Kal explained. "I could almost grasp it but then it vanished. It seemed so intricate I almost wonder if it's a combination of more than these two, perhaps a composite of three or four instead."

"That's some high-level magic, you're talking about," said Ikuno. "Getting runes to work together like with your haste rune is difficult as you already know. Combining runes is on a whole different level. To my knowledge, I've never met anyone who has ever done it. I will say that with your magic sight you are the most likely person to manage such an accomplishment."

Kal smiled and leaned back against Ikuno, "I appreciate that. You seem to have so much faith in me. It makes me wonder sometimes what I did to deserve it."

She wrapped her arms around him, "You came back to me."

* * *

Kal and Ikuno sat there until the sun started dipping below the horizon and the fresh water from the waterfall had cooled the pool beyond comfort. Dried off and dressed they began making their way back to Ikuno's home after saying goodbye to the golem. Gerda had decided to stay and continue working on the pool, as unconcerned about the dark as she was about having air to breathe.

Upon reaching Ikuno's cavern Kal immediately went to work on the flight/telekinesis problem. He started by recreating everything he could dredge up from his flash of insight earlier. What he ended up with on paper was less than heartening. At first, it looked more like a jumbled mess of lines and portions of sigils, that didn't surprise him much as he was going more on feeling than memory. However, even in that jumble, he could make out hints and glimpses of the two runes he expected and one he didn't though he was very familiar with it.

"I think one of these runes is for speed," he said as Ikuno set down bowls filled with their supper and joined him at the small table in the library.

Ikuno's brow furrowed, "Can I see?"

Kal handed his drawing over to her then tucked into his salad of greens and dried berries topped with strips of seared red meat. She had lightly doused it with some sweet wine Ikuno said was from her homeland. After a couple of bites, he was already looking forward to trying this particular dish later when the berries were fresh. It was quite tasty.

Ikuno handed the paper back to him and grabbed a book from one of the bookshelves before sitting again. She tapped the cover and said, "Feather Fall. Look it up. You need something like it on your bracers anyway. However, this one will be all you. There's no feather fall rune in the runesmithing book." She glared at him as he reached for the tome, "After supper," she growled.

Kal tried not to wolf down his food but the prospect of uncovering something new made it difficult. When he and Ikuno were done he took their dinnerware away and placed it in a washbasin for cleaning later, then nearly ran back to the library. Digging into the book he immediately noticed that it was for Ikuno's style of magic but with some luck, he should be able to adapt it. When he came to the Feather Fall spell he pulled up short.

"Wait a second… that looks an awful lot like the Levitas glyph."

"It is but instead of lifting things it only makes you fall slower."

Kal sat back, "Something is wrong, the rune is wrong."

"I don't doubt you but those are brave words from a novice. That spell is hundreds of years old. Regardless, flight can come later. We will be visiting the harpy and Silma soon. Gerda said she was going to fetch Sandy during that time, so she won't be able to take us there. We will be hiking up where the air is thin, so you may need your mask."

"Mask… Waitaminit, mask!" Kal jumped up and ran over to his pack and began digging inside. Coming back with his breathing mask, he laid it next to the paper with the beginnings of his flight rune. Kal cast another quick spell lifting the ink off the paper where he used another drop from the well to fill parts of the rune that he knew. He added to that, elements from the rune on the front of his mask he could see in the design.

Ikuno shook her head, "Levitas, Motus, Celeri, and now Caeli Cumulare. Four runes in this monstrosity and you aren't even done yet. I think what frightens me most is that I truly believe it will work when you are all done."

"I'm seeing parts of a protection rune, but I don't understand what it's protecting from."

"Hmm, what about the cold? You will have to dress warmly when we go up to the harpy's nest," suggested Ikuno.

"I was looking into that last winter after I helped deliver that baby. There isn't a whole lot on ice magics, near as I could tell."

"People who use ice magics tend towards being as cold-hearted as their spells. Jealous of those who enjoy the warmth of life," Ikuno said with bitterness in her tone.

"Sounds like a story there."

Ikuno sighed, "Yes, there is but it happened nearly two centuries ago and it won't help you. The woman hated me, and we never spoke of her magic. I didn't even know she was an ice mage until she tried to kill me."

"Could she be involved with the wolf?" he asked.

"Not a chance, she died by my hand. Even if she hadn't, she was human and as I said, it happened centuries ago. She would have long ago died of old age."

"Do you mind if I ask what made her want to kill you?"

Ikuno sighed, "Not right now, Kal. Those are painful memories."

Kal nodded and set the flight rune aside before starting to figure out a way to create a feather fall rune. An uncomfortable silence descended on the oni's small library.

* * *

The Levitas glyph that was an integral part of the feather fall rune floated in front of Kal. Beside him on the table were a variety of books open to the different forms of sigils. He pored over them, studying the differences between inked runes and spells drawn in the air. His hope was to eventually come up with a plan for converting the glyph in front of him into something he could use on a bracer. His main issue was that he had never done anything like this before and didn't know where to start.

Drawing a basic ring around the floating rune, he fed a tiny bit of magic into it. The energy dissipated almost as quickly as it touched the ink. Since the books told him Feather Fall was air affinity he attempted to add some elements common to other air-type glyphs to stabilize it. Instead, the rune vibrated itself apart as soon as magic touched it.

Collecting the ink he once again formed the rune with the Levitas glyph in the middle. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with the rune. It was supposed to be air affinity but disintegrated when anything air-related was added. It still leaked magic almost like it wasn't even there and he was just throwing energy out into the world. Worst of all, for Kal at least, was that it just looked wrong.

"Looked… Hmm…" Kal closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them they glowed blue. Again, he fed a tiny bit of magic into the rune. He began making small changes to the ink in front of him, seeing if each one affected how fast the magic dissipated.

Some time later his ability to see the magic flows suddenly dulled and Kal quickly put the rune on a piece of paper just as his reserves gave out. He had used his stamina and haste runes to get to Aradelle and Bea, then back to Gerda earlier in the day. Later he had sparred with Ikuno, then practiced geomancy. Since he returned to Ikuno's, he had constantly usined magic while working on the flight then later feather fall rune. After all that, he was tapped out.

Kal rubbed his eyes as a wave of tiredness swept over him. He had gotten so caught up in his work he had lost track of time. Looking over at the bed he saw that Ikuno had stripped down for bed then dozed off sitting up, the book she had been reading laying across her stomach. He took the book from her hands and put a bookmark in it before placing it back on a shelf in the library. Touching one of her horns he pulled a small amount of energy into himself, making the oni mumble in her sleep with an annoyed tone. He used the energy to gently lift the oni enough to get the blankets out from under her then lay the large woman down in the bed.

Stripping himself, he pulled the blankets up to her waist before getting in himself. He scooted over until his back was up against the large blue woman and with a wave of his hand the torches in the cavern all went out. Ikuno unconsciously wrapped her arms around him in a protective manner. A moment later she made a low growling sound that could have been either a warning to something in her dream or a purr of contentment. Either way, Kal didn't think there was anywhere else in the world he could feel safer at that moment. Smiling, he drifted off to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Come back safe, Kal," said Perra as she laid in bed with the covers pulled back so Kal could take in the candlelit view of her naked body. He paused every few minutes in his preparations for his extended trip into the mountains to kiss and run his hands over her. She was putting herself on display for him and he wanted there to be no doubt in her mind he appreciated it. He wished he had more time but he and Ikuno had decided to leave out at sunrise and the sky outside was starting to lighten.

"I plan on it," he said with a smile as he finished buttoning up his heavy coat. All he needed was his cloak that was hanging by the door and he was ready.

"Come back safe and I'll have something special to give you," Perra rolled away from him onto her side then twisted back to look at him. One hand went to her bottom and pulled her cheeks apart, displaying her pucker.

Kal was more than a little surprised at the offer. He hadn't played with her rear yet, much as he wanted to, out of worry that it might drag up bad memories of Sir Michael. He reached over the bed and gently ran his fingers over her backdoor. Perra tensed for just a second then forced herself to relax.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked as he dipped a finger into her sex to collect some of her natural lube before returning to her asshole and continuing to rub his finger around it.

"I know you'll make it good for me, Kal. I want to replace those memories with ones of you making love to me back there and making me feel wonderful," said Perra as she started to breathe harder. She knew how much he enjoyed being in a woman's bottom and she was starting to understand why the other women liked having him there.

Still leaning over the bed Kal licked her juices off his finger, "If you are certain, then how about something for you to look forward to as well?" Taking her by the hips he pulled her over to his side of the bed and dropped to one knee. He then pushed her knees up to her chest and had her hold them there. Kal dragged his tongue through her quim to get more of her juices then started teasing her rosebud with the tip.

Perra gasped in amazement at how good that felt. Not as good as when he licked her clit or was sliding in and out of her pussy, but she had never realized how sensitive that particular spot was. She tensed again, but only for a moment, as Kal's tongue slowly but insistently slid past her sphincter. Kal was doing a wonderful job of chasing away those bad memories already and he hadn't even taken off his pants.

Kal slowly slid his tongue in and out of her rear, gradually stretching it and observing Perra for any pain, physical or otherwise. When she was taking the thickest part and seemed to be wanting more, unfortunately, he was on a schedule. He finished up with a long lick from her anus to her clit, making the girl's body jerk.

Perra put her legs down as Kal leaned over to give her a goodbye kiss. Kal was again surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck and fiercely pressed her lips to his, her tongue darting into his mouth . Their tongues wrestled for a minute before Perra pulled back with an evil grin on her face.

She brought her knees back up to her chest and said, "Do that again, then give Ikuno a hello kiss from me." Kal chuckled as he bent back down to get another taste of her.

A couple of minutes later Kal stepped out of their room, stopping for a moment to get his bearings. He was still unused to walking out of his room on what felt like the wrong side of the house.

His and Perra's morning activities on the day he went to see Bea had not gone as unnoticed as they had hoped. He felt rightly embarrassed when he returned home late the next day to find that his mother had moved all her belongings into his room and vise-versa. Perra had been sleeping in his mother's bed since she moved in and had her clothes there already. Lately, it had become more Perra's room than his mother's especially since he had put a small cot together in front of the stove to keep her warm.

Having someplace to sleep so close to her sewing chair meant that Kal's mother was only returning to her bedroom on occasion. The last time had been when Perra snuck out and woke Kal up. Perra wouldn't have tempted fate that morning by trying to sneak past she if she had been sleeping out on the cot. His mother had been awake the entire time, having woken up when Perra got out of bed to sneak out. She had heard not only their lovemaking but their conversation as well. Later that day she instructed Perra to switch the rooms out, making his mother's room with the larger bed into Perra's and his. An equally embarrassed, yet excited, Perra had greeted him at the door when he came home and shown him to their new room.

When he asked his mother the next day she didn't even try to hide her intentions.

"I'm just hoping that Perra might convince you to give up your promiscuous ways and settle down with one woman," she said with a smile as she sewed a patch into one of Perra's dresses.

The move did have an unintended consequence. Kal's mother had known what was going on ever since Perra's birthday. Since they kept their trysts out in the barn or somewhere away from the house but had never had to deal with it directly. With them in the same bed, it was a nightly thing, and often morning too, where she had to listen to their quiet lovemaking. It was making her cranky.

A few days later she snapped at Perra badly enough to bring the girl to tears.

"Mother!" said Kal, shocked.

His mother's eyes widened as she realized what she had done, "I'm so sorry Perra please forgive me I didn't mean that." She turned to Kal, "My apologies to you as well for seeing that side of me. I didn't think having a young, and active, couple in the house would affect me as much as it has." Kal was pretty sure he understood what she was saying but had no clue what to do about it.

Perra, on the other hand, headed straight for the door, calling over her shoulder to Kal, "Breakfast is yours, I'll be back in a little while." Kal and his mother stared at each other in confusion until they heard Bonn headed off to town with Perra on his back. Around a half an hour later she came back and took his mother into her bedroom for a few minutes. All through breakfast his mother sat there blushing furiously, an odd experience for Kal as he had never seen her act this way. After a while, her blush faded and the rest of the day went on like normal, until bedtime.

At Perra's request, Kal had stoked the fire for the night as the sun started to set then helped his mother settle into bed, an activity that still felt odd to him. His mother wasn't frail or scrawny, anyone looking at her would see a prime example of a woman in her early forties. Whatever her ailment was it seemed to be sapping the life right out of her, leaving her exceptionally weak with no other outward signs of sickness.

Perra came in as he was finishing up and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Have a good night, Mom." His mother again turned bright red.

Kal noticed the pack in Perra's hand and gave her a questioning look, "Going somewhere?"

"Yes, and you're coming with me. Our room at the Inn is already paid for."

"Why…"

Perra held a finger up to his lips, "No questions. I brought Bonn around front. Let's go."

A couple of minutes later when they were out on the trail to Telsin, Kal asked again what was going on.

Perra turned to look back at him, "Your mother is frustrated, Kal. We've awakened urges she hasn't had in many years and haven't properly taken care of since your father passed. I picked up something from Kahrin earlier to help with that and now we are giving her some time alone to put it to use." Kal's face suddenly turned as red as his mother's had been. Perra quipped, "I can see the family resemblance."

When they reached the Inn, Kal saw that Master Ellis was still ill and Kahrin was manning the bar again. He was beginning to seriously worry about the innkeeper. They went and put their belongings in their room, Perra had chosen the same one as before but with assurances to Bren that there would be significantly more sleeping tonight. After settling in, they came back downstairs. Perra and Kahrin chatted behind the bar as Kahrin worked while Kal and Bren manned the door.

The other barmaid, Ada, took issue with Perra being back with the money. Kahrin quickly silenced her by informing the woman that Master Kal and Lady Perra had enough money to buy the place outright if they wanted and were hardly worried about their few coppers. Kal frowned, in actuality, he could buy the entire town. However, he hadn't realized that his financial status was so widely known, even if underestimated.

Perra seemed to thrive working with Kahrin. She happily chatted with customers and poured drinks helping the barmaid as much as she could. After a while Kahrin even let the girl run the counter by herself while she went out and helped Ada in the dining room. Things stayed pretty tame for the first part of the night until a traveling minstrel pulled out a lute and began singing. Regaling them with a bawdy tale of the many feminine conquests of sir such-and-such from the kingdom of somewhere, each one more lurid and graphic than the last.

Kal's presence dampened most of the lewder attention directed towards Perra. But, as some of the customers got a bit deeper in their cups they began caring less and less about the wizard. Bren nudged him as one of the patrons stumbled towards the bar, a lecherous grin splitting his features as he stared at Perra. Kal smiled at the big man and pulled his hood over his head so no one could see his eyes start to glow.

Perra had seen Kal smile and put his hood up as he watched, though she didn't really understand his actions she knew he would keep her safe. Because of this, she stood there calmly as the leering drunkard reached towards her breast.

Motion and music stopped as the man was hit with a blast of air from the side. The drunkard opened his eyes to see a hand on his arm stopping him from moving forward. Looking to the side he saw Kal, his hood pushed back by the wind as he dashed the couple of steps to the bar. Terror etched the man's features as he saw the young wizard's glowing blue eyes. He sobered quickly as the mage moved his hand away from Perra and back his side, using no more effort than he would for a small child.

"You were about to touch something that belongs to me," he said glaring at the man. "That would be unwise." One by , the rest of his runes except for his shield lit up. The man about lost his mind with fear when the haste rune appeared and started spinning. Suddenly all the runes along with his glowing eyes faded. Kal clapped the man on the shoulder making him jump. "Understood?" he asked with a genuine smile. The man nodded dumbly and for a moment was going to return to his table once the wizard released him. Seeing the glares he was getting from the other patrons, he instead turned towards the front door and made a hasty exit. He felt a rush of elation come from Perra at his words that felt out of place, he dismissed the feeling as something to come back to later.

"Bloody hell Master Kal. Ye about made the arsehole piss himself," called out Kahrin as she jumped down off the chair she had been using to watch. The crowd parted to let her through and she waggled a finger in his face. "Rest assured if'n he had ye'd be the one cleanin' it up too." She shooed him back towards his and Bren's table, "Off wit' ye now, back ta yer ale."

Kal quickly realized what she was doing and made a production of saying, "Yes ma'am," and hanging his head as he returned to his table.

"Da fuk wassat?" yelled one of the customers, "'e was 'bout ta kill a man. Then gits 'andled by a fuggin' bar wench."

Bren's rumbling chuckle as Kal sat down drew everyone's attention. "The bar wench wasn't about to put her hands where they weren't wanted. There's your lesson for tonight everyone: don't fuck with the wizard's woman and he's just another good man. Bard! Play something heroic, save the tales of cocks and quims for another night." The minstrel nodded at the big man and launched into another song. Slowly, things in the dining room returned to normal.

Kahrin sauntered over and leaned over the table. Speaking just loud enough so only the two men could hear she gave Kal a sultry look and said, "I bet I could put me hands on the wizard's woman."

Kal took a sip of his ale and smirked back at her, "You heard the man," he said nodding at Bren, "I only get involved if it's not wanted. Perra told me all about the advice you gave her on her birthday. Knowing that, I won't be taking that bet."

Kahrin stood up with a smile, "Phooey, she shouldn'a told ye that. Think I might find out anyway." Bren and Kal both chuckled as she walked away.

Kahrin sauntered over to where Perra was standing behind the counter. She pulled the lone stool over for Perra then had the girl sit and lean back against the bar with her back to the dining room. The barmaid stood close beside her facing the counter and they chatted amiably like that for a minute. Perra suddenly sat straight up putting her hand on Kahrin's arm. A moment later she looked over at Kal with her eyes wide. Kal made a point of staring at her face, then at where Kahrin's arm disappeared beneath the counter, then back at her face before giving her a questioning look. Perra thought for a moment before nodding back at him. Kal raised his tankard in salute. Perra looked back to the barmaid and gave her a similar nod before taking her hand off Kahrin's arm and leaning over into the older woman.

Kahrin whispered something into the younger woman's ear and Perra nodded again before scooting down on the stool. Kal couldn't see Kahrin's arm any more than anyone else in the dining area but looking carefully he could see Perra breathing a bit heavier. He was amazed and quite aroused that she would be so audacious as to do this in a room full of people. They were interrupted by a customer approaching the bar for a refill. Perra sat back and put her elbows on the counter as though she had just been resting against the older woman while Kahrin got the man his drink. If he had any inkling what had been going on there a moment ago, he never showed it.

Kahrin stood in front of Perra for a moment and sensuously licked one of her fingers clean. Perra heaved a great sigh as another customer, followed by Ada with a handful of empty mugs, approached the bar. She hopped down off the stool and turned to help them, a bright smile on her face. Kahrin, meanwhile, walked back over to Bren and Kal's table.

The barmaid leaned over the table again and wiggled one of her fingers under his nose, Perra's familiar scent was unmistakable. "Care for a taste, Master Kal?"

Kal smiled and shook his head, "I'll get some straight from the source later. You worked for that, you should have it."

Her smile turned mischievous as she turned to Bren, "Hear that Bren? He says this one's for me," she said as she began to teasingly clean her finger. Kal saw a whole new side to the giant of a man as Bren's eyes locked on Kahrin's finger while she ran her tongue over it then took it all the way in her mouth and sucked it clean. When her finger came away from her lips Bren's eyes met Kahrin's and the man made a growling noise that started deep in his chest and vibrated the table.

The barmaid leaned towards Kal while continuing to give Bren a sultry look and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "One o' the big lout's favorite things is seein' me tongue buried in another woman's puss, drinkin' her juice. Yer woman and ye just made certain I'm goin' ta have a good night."

Kal and Bren shared a look as Kahrin walked away to help Ada get caught up. Both men adjusted themselves before returning to their ale.

Eventually, things wound down and most of the patrons wandered off to their respective homes. Those that didn't, like the minstrel, found their way to their rooms. A few late-night hangers-on were gathered around the low burning fireplace chatting. The bleary-eyed night cook and clerk came out and took their positions relieving the kitchen staff along with Kahrin, Bren, and Ada. Kal took note that Ada went into Master Ellis's room instead of her own. Perra bounced over to their table, still full of energy from the excitement of working the bar.

Kahrin pretended to drag Bren up out of his seat as the large man stood up. As they walked away the older woman called out to Perra, "There's some things I'm needin' ta get ready, I'll be up in a minute."

Kal shot a confused glance at Perra as they walked upstairs towards their room. She looked up at him and said, "She asked me if we would help her do something special for Bren, if you say no that's fine. She said there'd be no hard feelings."

"I'm curious now. Do I dare ask what this special thing is?"

"Can it be a surprise?"

"Sure," he chuckled as they entered their room. Kal drew a small rune and magically lit the candles scattered about. By the time he was done Perra had already stripped and was standing in front of him naked. "This is certainly a change from last time we were here," he said smiling as she began helping him undress.

"I didn't know how good it would feel that time. If I had, then I might have just flipped up my dress and bent over the bed," she said as she pulled down his trousers. Perra immediately sank to her knees and took his half-hard dick in her hand. She pointed it at her mouth and moved forward enveloping the head with her soft lips and making Kal groan in pleasure. Perra then bobbed up and down on the top half while stoking the bottom with her hand until he was fully hard.

After instructing Kal to lay down, she threw a leg over his hips and quickly sank down onto him. Then, in a complete change from their norm, she sat back on his cock and began lightly playing with her clit.

"I'm guessing this is part of that special thing you were talking about?"

"Mmm hmm," she answered with her eyes closed as she enjoyed the pleasant feelings.

There was a light tapping on the door before Kahrin, wearing only a nightdress, let herself in. The older woman smiled as she took in the sight of the Perra sitting astride Kal. He noticed she was walking awkwardly as she came over to the bed, remembering her toys sitting in her bedroom Kal could guess why. By the time Kahrin was standing next to them, Kal could feel Perra's juices start to run down his sack and drip to the bed below.

"Yer sure ye don't mind, Perra?" the barmaid asked. "I'll not blame ye if'n ye be wantin' Kal ta be the only man here ta know what ya taste like."

In all of the excitement of the night, Perra hadn't thought of that. She looked down at Kal with a questioning expression.

"You're my woman and my lover, not my slave, Perra, the choice is yours. I will say that Bren is a good man in my eyes, in that respect, I don't have any problem with this." Kal smiled, "I just wonder if you will be able to look him in the face after he knows what you taste like."

Perra flushed bright red.

"He don't know what I'm up here for so if'n ye changed your mind ye won't be dissapointin' him," said Kahrin.

Perra smiled at them both as her face returned to normal, "I gave my word and I'll keep it. If Kal doesn't mind, then I see no reason not to help you and Bren out tonight." She slid up and down Kal's cock a couple of times then leaned over onto his chest.

Kal's prick slipped out of the girl only to be immediately engulfed by the barmaid's mouth. Almost lovingly she cleaned him of Perra's fluids. Her tongue seeking out every drop she could get beneath the crown and even swiping the tip of her tongue through the slit at the top. After running her lips down the underside and cleaning the couple of drops off his scrotum she took his cock and pointed it at Perra's entrance.

Perra had lifted herself up had been watching between her legs as the barmaid made love to Kal's cock. It was apparent that this woman may not love the man, but she certainly loved the part of him currently in her mouth. Perra wanted a better view so she stood up on the bed and turned around facing Kal's feet before slowly lowering herself back onto his prick. Kahrin watched intently as Kal's cock slowly disappeared into the young woman. There was something about these two that turned her on fiercely and she unconsciously swallowed hard as the girl's pussy completely engulfed the young wizard's dick.

Kahrin swore under her breath, annoyed with herself for forgetting her purpose here, as the two young lovers quietly laughed at her. Perra lightly brushed her fingers across her clit and said, "Don't worry I have more."

Three more times Perra rode Kal until they could hear how wet she was, with Kahrin cleaning him up afterward. As the barmaid went to work on his cock a third time Perra whispered quietly into Kal's ear. He gave her a questioning look, seeing the curiosity and excitement tinged with nervousness in her face. He nodded with a supportive smile. Something that is more difficult than it sounds when your cock is being worked by an expert fellatrix.

Kal raised himself and Perra off the bed until they were sitting up, Perra throwing one arm around the back of his neck to make it easier for him to watch. As Kahrin finished cleaning his prick and pointed it back at Perra's dripping sex, Perra pushed Kal's cock off to the side and put a hand on the back of the barmaid's head. The delight on the Kahrin's face was unmistakable as the younger woman pushed the barmaid's mouth towards her pussy.

Perra leaned back and groaned in pleasure as Kahrin's tongue went to work teasing her lips and clit then gathering up the young woman's natural lube. Too soon for Perra's liking, Kahrin began paying attention exclusively to her clit. This indicated to the younger woman that the barmaid had collected a mouthful and was now trying to get her off.

Perra laid her hand gently on Kahrin's forehead and shook her head when the woman looked up in confusion. "Kal will take care of that," she said with a smile, "I think Bren has been waiting long enough."

Kahrin nodded and gave both Perra and Kal a nuzzle on the cheek before almost running out of the room.

Perra and Kal both sighed as Kahrin left, the sexual tension seemed to drain out of the room as soon as she was gone. Perra leaned forward and got on all fours. "No offense Kal but I'm exhausted and had about as much foreplay as I can take, I'd love it if you would fill me up before we went to sleep."

Kal chuckled, "No worries, I'm right there with you," he said as he lined up his cock and pushed home. Kal set a blistering pace and Perra just managed to get in two orgasms, the second with help from her fingers, before Kal emptied himself inside her. Just as they were laying down and getting comfortable they heard a loud rhythmic banging coming from directly below them. followed by what sounded like a low roar from some wild beast.

Moments later they heard Kahrin's voice through the floorboards saying, "I'm okay! I'm fine! If it happens again I'm fine then too!" The young lovers laughed as Perra pressed her back onto Kal's chest and he draped an arm over her side. Within minutes they had both fallen asleep.

Kahrin had almost tripped in her haste to get back to Bren's room, the large stone cock inside her made it hard to move quickly. When passing through the kitchen she grabbed a small cup and let some of the contents of her mouth drain into it. Entering Bren's room, Kahrin saw that he was laying on the bed naked and had nearly fallen asleep waiting for her. The barmaid put the cup down on his nightstand and pulled the big man into a sitting position, earning a drowsy groan of annoyance. She quickly threw off her nightdress and removed the stone phallus before dipping her hand in the jar of lube, similar to her own, sitting on his night table. Bren was awake enough to know something was odd with the normally chatty barmaid, but he had a hard time focusing on it when she started lubing and stroking his massive cock.

Kahrin smeared the rest of the lube on her stretched pussy then wrapped her arms around the big man's neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. She pushed the remaining fluid into Bren's mouth as their tongues swirled around each other. Kahrin pulled away and watched while Bren tried to figure out the strange flavor.

"Tell me, Bren," the barmaid purred, "how are ye likin' the taste o' Lady Perra's cunt?"

Bren's eyes widened then narrowed, "You're lyin'."

Kahrin laughed, "On me life I'm not. Was willin' ta suck it offa Master Kal's cock if need be. Lady Perra was kind enough ta let me get some straight from the source," she said licking her lips and sinking slowly down onto the man's rod with a groan.

"I'll be damned," he said breathing in through his nose and savoring the taste in his mouth "Would've loved to see you lickin' that girl's pussy." Bren put one hand behind Kahrin's back to support her and brought the other up to her throat. "I'm supposing you want your reward for being so good to me," he growled.

The barmaid's eyes flicked to the cup on the nightstand before she smirked and leveled a challenging stare at him. Pressing her neck into his palm she said, "I'm fuckin' countin' on it."

The next morning Kal, Kahrin, and Perra all got a shock. Perra had needed some time to collect herself before she went down to face Kahrin and Bren. They had been woken up twice more last night by the activities below them with Perra knowing the cause all too well. Finally getting up her courage she almost strutted down the stairs. Kahrin came around the bar and gave Perra a hug and a tender kiss on the lips, while Kal gracefully settled for a chaste kiss on the cheek from the barmaid. What surprised them was when Perra went over to do the same for Bren. As her lips touched his cheek the normally quiet and unflappable giant of a man turned bright red and stumbled over his words as he attempted to say goodbye.

Perra took pity on the man and rushed out the door while Kahrin and Kal burst into laughter. Kal was still laughing when he clapped the big man on the shoulder and walked out the front door himself.

Kal and Perra returned home that morning to a much calmer but brightly blushing mother. It wasn't until that afternoon she was able to look either of them in the eye.

All of that had happened a little over a week ago and it still made him blush to think of what his mother had been doing that night. However, he had to admit she had become far more pleasant to live with. Kal was only slightly disappointed that the cot he put together was now going unused since his mother was now spending nearly every night in the privacy of his old bedroom.

It was still dark as Kal stepped out of the house. Popping the last of his small breakfast of dried meat and cheese into his mouth, he started the two-hour trek to Ikuno's home. The mage eagerly awaited the sunrise so he could use his magic to get there quicker. Though he knew the way by heart, running at high speed through a forest in the dark didn't seem like a smart idea.

Ikuno had all but tried to devour Kal when he told her about Perra's gift, using her long tongue to get every tiny bit of the girl's flavor she could from his mouth. When she broke the kiss she growled, "Damn that girl, doing this on a day we don't have time for more. I'm positively soaked right now."

This little game had started the day after he impregnated Bea and was likely the reason Perra had been open to their fun with Kahrin the other night. Kal was feeling recuperated and Ikuno wasn't willing to wait until his next visit. She nearly dragged him to bed for some intimate time together before he left .

Upon returning home, Perra had called him over to the barn where she was doing chores. Once she had pulled him out of sight from the house, she immediately dropped to her knees, tugged his trousers down and took his soft prick in her mouth. A moment later she pulled back and smacked her lips together at the strange taste.

Kal looked down sheepishly, "I would have warned you. Ikuno and I were together just before I came home."

Perra's expression went from surprised, to disgusted, to thoughtful, then finally to accepting before she sighed and said, "It was bound to happen someday. Besides, she doesn't taste bad, I just wasn't expecting it." The girl shrugged and took him back in her mouth.

His next trip to Ikuno's, Perra had made certain to return the flavor. The girl making sure that his cock was loaded up with her juices before he left and giving him instructions as to what to tell Ikuno. The oni's reaction was far different. She nearly ripped his trousers open then spent the next few minutes carefully cleaning his cock with a look of unbridled lust on her face. After that, nearly every time he went between his and Ikuno's home he left with a gift for the other woman.

Later that morning Kal found himself in a very unexpected situation: riding piggyback on Ikuno. She was taking advantage of the natural trail that ran along the base of the mountain range. The oni surmised that it had been made over many years by herds of game animals traveling north and being turned aside by the steep mountain faces, eventually creating a decently wide path. Kal had used it a few times to get to Ikuno's but it wasn't significantly faster than his normal route straight through the forest. Since planting Eludora he hadn't used it at all, stopping to check on his daughter each time it was light enough out to do so.

Trees whipped by from the screaming pace Ikuno was setting with the help of Kal's haste rune. He could move fast using his runes, but the oni's long legs were eating up the distance to their destination at an impressive rate.

Ikuno informed him they had a good reason to test traveling like this. An unfertilized harpy's egg started losing it's magic as soon as it was laid. This meant they would need to get from the harpy nest to the salamander's cave in the eastern mountains as quickly as possible.

They were far beyond any lands he was familiar with when she finally slowed then stopped in front of a rocky crag on the mountainside. A fissure ran up the stone that had slowly filled with rocks, making a slope for them to start climbing.

As she caught her breath, Ikuno looked up at the fissure and the sheer stone faces on either side that stood well over the treetops. "Last test," she said, "climb up then jump down. I'll catch you if something goes wrong. Don't forget your strength rune too before you jump."

Kal rolled his eyes. "Yes Mom," he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ikuno glared at him as he set both their travel packs down and began climbing the slope of loose rocks. He appreciated her worry, but they had done this same test of his feather fall rune dozens of times already. He had to remind himself that her caution was because she loved him and not because she doubted his abilities. On the other hand, he could understand her concern. The feather fall spell and rune were going to be their quick way back down once their business with the harpy was done. He disliked the idea of becoming a greasy smear on the side of a mountain as much as anyone else.

The strength rune brightened when he was about halfway to the top. Kal crouched then launched himself up to the edge of the fissure, grabbing the lip and quickly pulling himself up with his enhanced muscles. He then calmly walked off the edge of the cliff as the feather fall rune began glowing white. True to all his other tests, he floated down towards Ikuno. Unlike in his other tests, a side wind knocked him off course. He had to push off a couple of tree branches before maneuvering himself into a clear spot to land.

Ikuno smiled. "I should make you do it again just for the 'mom' comment," she said handing his pack to him. Kal laughed and checked the crystal tucked into a small pouch he put on his vambrace for just that purpose. It was about three-quarters drained after the trip and testing the feather fall rune The mage slipped it back into its leather pocket. He didn't see the need to switch it out with one of the other three he had brought along just yet.

Ikuno had also stocked up on magic for this trip. Kal had gotten so used to seeing her horns with black tips they almost seemed odd now that they were completely golden again. After getting drunk on magic last year she made certain that there was room in her energy stores whenever Kal was around so there wouldn't be any repeats.

As they reached the top of the fissure Kal looked over the bleak landscape. A few scraggly trees were managing to eke out the nutrients needed to live from soil that had blown into the cracks scattered about the rocks. Fauna was nearly non-existent, the only exceptions being the occasional bird flitting from tree to tree searching for seeds or bugs. Large spikes of rock that had long ago sheared off nearby stone faces jutted out at odd angles giving the area a very inhospitable atmosphere. Occasionally small patches of lichen could be seen tinting the stone green in areas protected from the biting wind.

The stiff breeze whipped Kal's cloak about. Now that they were above the treetops, there were no natural windbreaks besides the mountain before them. Ikuno went on ahead as Kal flipped up his hood and secured the rarely used fasteners sewed into the garment. He wondered for a moment if other wizards had to deal with such issues or if they had some spell that protected them from the annoying gusts. As he started after Ikuno, Kal mulled over the concept of a protection from air spell but quickly discarded the idea. He didn't need a rune to accidentally protect him from the air he needed to breathe.

Unlike the mountains by Ikuno's cave, there were no game trails between the northern and southern forests for them to follow. Up ahead Ikuno was carefully making her way across an area of sharp looking rubble and broken rocks. Kal looked up at the area just below where the snow covered the very top of the mount and sighed. For all of their haste in getting here, he had a feeling that this was going to be a very long and very slow climb.

About noon they found a dimple in the rock face along the tiny ledge they were traversing. It gave Ikuno and him just enough room to sit and get a bite to eat. There had only been two mishaps on their journey so far. The first where another ledge similar to the one they were sitting on crumbled beneath Ikuno's feet. She lunged forward and caught the ledge in front of her with her claws. Her expression was more of annoyance than fear despite the long fall beneath her. A moment later, Kal jumped the missing section and helped pull her up. Later on, Kal overbalanced while passing under an overhang and quickly anchored himself with geomancy to keep from falling.

With all of their attention on the treacherous climb, there had been no opportunity to talk until now.

"For a couple of magic users this seems to be the slowest way we could go about this," Kal said.

"If you have any ideas, I'm all ears," Ikuno responded, "I could probably climb straight up with a little help," she said as a red magic circle Kal recognized as her strength spell formed in front of her hand. She grinned at the look he was giving her, "I know I said earlier that we should conserve our magic since there won't be time to rest and recharge o,nce we get the egg. But, if I'm being honest, I'm as sick of this as you seem to be. Were you wanting to try the piggyback again? I'm worried that will be a lot of weight pulling me backwards."

"I have something in mind," he said looking over the edge and fighting off momentary vertigo. Down below them was a small rock ledge that they had crossed earlier. Kal reached out and as quickly as possible tied his will to the rock but with much smaller magic cables than he had used when practicing with Gerda. Giving a small tug Kal felt the connection was secure enough for what he planned.

"Okay, I'm curious. What have you got?" said Ikuno as they finished up their midday meal.

Kal stood and studied the steep rocky slope above. A fair distance up he could make out a ledge big enough for them to stand on. He crouched for a moment as the strength rune shined bright then sprang high into the air well above his intended target. As the feather fall rune glowed he reached out with one of the magic cables and attached it to the wall behind the ledge. Yanking himself forward as he severed the rope he quickly drifted down onto the outcropping. As his feet came to rest on the shelf, he touched the wall and anchored himself with magic. Kal checked the crystal he was pulling power from. The entire maneuver had only taken a couple of seconds and he only saw a small drop in the crystal's level.

Looking back down he could barely make out Ikuno's smile as she cast a strength spell on herself. With the nimbleness of a cat she quickly climbed up to join him, the claws on her hands and feet sinking easily into the stone. Kal kept one hand anchored as he reached out with the other and helped Ikuno onto the ledge.

Smiling up at Ikuno, Kal said, "This feels more like how a wizard should climb a mountain."

"I couldn't agree more," she replied. "The harpy's nest should be off that way."

Kal looked in the direction she was pointing and picked out his next destination.

Kal sailed up over the ledge in front of the harpy's cave, then stared in shock as a human male dressed in thick furs screamed in terror and frantically scooted backwards from where he had been sitting. Kal was so surprised he forgot to pull himself forward onto the ledge. Thankfully, he was close enough to reach out and grab the lip as he slowly floated downwards and with some help from the strength rune quickly pulled himself up. The two men stared at one another until recognition dawned on both their faces.

"Rone?" asked Kal.

"Kal? Kal!" cried the man jumping to his feet with tears in his eyes and running over to wrap Kal in a big hug. "Master Kal! Thank goodness! I didn't know if anyone knew I had been kidnapped! I can't believe they sent you to rescue mmph!..."

Kal had heard the scratching of claws on the rock behind him that suddenly stopped just below the ledge followed by a quiet, "Dammit, dammit, dammit," from Ikuno when she realized there was another human there. Worse yet, a human from Telsin.

Kal had grabbed Rone by the collar and put his hand over the man's mouth. His eyes glowed followed by a menacing red light from his strength and fire resistance runes. "I am not here to rescue you and I will happily leave you here if you don't swear that you will speak to no one of what you are about to see." Kal hated to scare the life out of the already distraught man but Kal knew Ikuno would not come up unless she knew her secret was safe from getting back to his mother.

Rone's eyes flicked from the glowing runes to his eyes before the man nervously nodded.

Kal removed his hand from the man's mouth and in an official manner said, "Do you swear on your life you will never speak to anyone about my companion until the time I release you from this oath."

"I..I swear," said Rone nervously. Kal saw a bit of magic snap into place between the two of them that was slightly similar to the bonding magic, Kal hoped that if Rone failed to keep his mouth shut he wouldn't suddenly keel over dead from this.

Kal called back over his shoulder, "You can come up now, Ikuno."

"Are you sure?" came a call from over the edge, the man's eyes darted towards the voice.

"He swore an oath. He's good," Kal said as the runes faded and his eyes returned to their normal color.

With a fair amount of claws scratching on stone, a large blue hand appeared on the rock ledge quickly followed by the rest of the oni as she pulled herself up. Looking at Rone, Ikuno attempted to give him a kindly smile but Kal could see the strain in her eyes. He would have to tell her about the oath and the magic that seemed to go with it.

Rone saw things very differently. At Kal's call, a blue-skinned ogre climbed up and started walking towards them, flashing her fangs and grinning hungrily. Rone's conscious mind fled in terror leaving only instinct. The man screamed at the top of his lungs, abject horror and the certainty that he was about to be killed and eaten painted upon his face. The man ripped his collar out of Kal's hands and bolted, still screaming, into the mouth of the cave. Turning off into a side tunnel he ran full bore back to the harpy's nest and curled up into a ball off to one side. With no exits besides the one he just came in, he shivered and awaited his end.

Kal's first impulse had been to run after him but he only made it a few steps before his eyes were drawn far upwards to take in the enormous cave opening before him. The arched entrance could easily hold the entire Inn back in Telsin with plenty of room to spare all around it. At the peak of the arch, you could set a second inn on top of the first and still have at least a few paces between the roof and the stone above. The cave appeared to run a good distance inside before sloping upwards and disappearing off further into the mountain peak. Like Kal, Ikuno had been too distracted by the sudden appearance of Rone to notice the gigantic opening and now stood staring in amazement next to the slack-jawed runesmith.

"Holy hell… did a dragon live here? Or, more importantly, 'does' a dragon live here?" Kal said looking up at Ikuno, only to find that the oni had shaken off her momentary amazement and was looking down at long furrows in the rock beneath them.

"Not a dragon," said Ikuno looking confused, "If it had been a dragon there would be a second set of claw marks up there where the front legs came down when landing. Whatever lived here landed on two feet and they were much larger than a dragon's. You go deal with your friend, I'll see if I can figure this out."

Kal nodded, not bothering to correct Ikuno that he and Rone weren't friends as it didn't much matter at that moment. Rone's parents had been the ones to purchase his grandparent's old farm from Kal's mother. After getting things cleaned up Rone's father tended both farms until his son was old enough to take over their old farm. He and Kal had run into each other a few times in town over the years and chatted amiably but never to the point if considering the man a friend.

Kal stepped into the small tunnel just inside the cave entrance that Rone had disappeared down. It continued into the rock then made a gradual turn to the left before going back towards the center of the mountain for a few paces and finally opening up into the room Rone was huddled in.

The small cavern appeared to have been carved out of the stone specifically for a human-sized occupant. One corner on the back wall was filled with a large nest that Kal assumed had been made by the harpy they were seeking. Broken wooden shelves ran along the opposite wall next to a jutting piece of rock that looked suspiciously like Ikuno's flat-topped stone cook stove, Kal could see magic flowing through it along with feeling the heat it constantly gave off on his face. Kal could see a couple of runes he wanted to investigate further on the side but right now his priority was the man quivering in fear behind the broken shelves.

"Why did you run Rone? Ikuno is with me. She won't hurt you," said Kal to the wide-eyed man.

None of what Kal had just said registered with the terrified man, "I'm sorry Master Kal! When I get home, I'll ask my parents to give you your grandparent's farm back! They can come live with me and Marda, I won't mind! Just don't let her eat m…"

"RONE!" bellowed Kal making the man shut up with a startled whimper. Rone's voice had been getting more hysterical as he went on and Kal could see the man was on the verge of passing out from hyperventilating. Kal held up a finger, "Number one: Ikuno does not eat humans. Two: If I wanted your parent's farm I could easily buy it from them, many times over. Three," Kal took a moment to pull a small stone stool out of the middle of the room and sit down, "How the hell did a farmer like you manage to land as fine a woman as Marda?"

The wonder of seeing Kal use magic right in front of him immediately followed by such a mundane question seemed to derail Rone's terror and he sputtered for a moment before answering. "Dad got sick this last winter, I was making trips into town to pick up his medicine. We started talking a bit and suddenly she showed up at my farm one day. Watched me all day as I worked, asking questions the whole time." Rone visibly relaxed as he told more of his story, "She spent the night with me," the man blushed, "then got up and left the next morning. Two days later she showed up with a cart full of her belongings and moved in, it never occurred to me to turn her away. At the beginning of this spring, her dad and the Tanner made it official. The woman's been a godsend and she's pretty sure we have a little one on the way already." Rone's face fell, "I hope she doesn't think I've run off on her."

The apothecary's second daughter had been the star of quite a few of Kal's fantasies just before he met Ikuno. The woman was the definition of voluptuous and was not ashamed to flaunt it by wearing low cut dresses to show off her ample cleavage. She was also the center of attention for some time when her eldest sister visited from the capital, where she was studying to be a cleric, and brought a new fashion that was popular there called a corset. More than once Kal walked into the apothecary's store to find it filled with young men buying silly things just for the chance to ogle the woman.

He also knew that she was very strong-willed, having seen her get into arguments with her father behind the counter numerous times as he went to pick up medicine for his mother. This was also the reason, according to the town's gossip circle, that she hadn't seen much for suitors. Rone's story didn't surprise him much.

"I'd be more worried that she thinks you're dead, Rone. How long have you been here?" Kal said quietly wishing for a moment that he had been able to form a bond with Perra the same as the rest of his women, so he could at least get a message to the family that the man was alive.

Rone's eyes widened in horror at the thought until he mentally conceded that Kal had a point. "Four days," he said, "Is there any way you could get word to her that I'm alive? Felli picked me up when I was out in one of the back fields, away from the house. I doubt she could have seen me get taken."

"Felli?" asked Kal.

"The harpy, her name is Felli. Disgusting thing she is, eats her own young. She laid an egg yesterday then cut the top off and slurped half of it down like it was a fine ale. Worse yet she offered the other half to me. I ran outside and emptied my stomach on the ledge. Then when I come back she turns around and acts all sweet and loving towards me like she didn't just kill and eat her own child! I can't figure out how something so warm and caring, even if she is forgetful, can be so horrible at the same time. Now that you are here to take me home I won't have to worry about it."

Now who was being forgetful, thought Kal. "Rone I'm not here to rescue you, I have business with the harpy. Felli? Is that correct?"

Rone's face fell, "You did say that outside, didn't you."

"I'm sorry, but we didn't bring anything with to get you down the mountain safely. Had we known you were here things would have been different. As things stand, between Ikuno and I we might be able to figure out a way to get you down, but I won't risk either myself or her dying for you. Your best bet is to make a deal with Felli and get her to take you back or you will have to wait a few days until we can mount a proper rescue with the correct gear."

"Make a deal? How do you mean?" asked Rone.

"Have you had sex with her?"

Rone looked appalled, "Of course not!"

"Good, there's your bargaining chit. Agree that you won't sleep with her until she promises to take you home.

"Why on earth would I sleep with that monster?!"

"Why not? It's your quickest way home."

"Only to watch her eat my child in a couple of days?!" Rone stood up, furious that Kal would even ask him to consider the idea.

Kal waved off the man's ire, "I would never suggest such a thing. A harpy will defend a fertilized egg with her life, the one she ate was unfertilized. I'm sure you have chickens back at home and know as well as I do that they'll keep laying eggs without a rooster, only those eggs will never hatch. It's the same concept."

"I've never seen a chicken eat its own eggs," Rone growled.

"Of course not, you take care of your livestock. Starve them or deprive them of water and you may see a different side to them before they stop laying completely. Harpies don't have that luxury, they won't stop laying and it takes a lot out of them to make each of those eggs, both from their bodies and from their magic. Which brings me to why I'm here, I need one of her unfertilized eggs for some magic I'm working on. If she agrees then I have to leave the moment it's laid," Kal said calmly.

Rone bit off his retort when he heard Ikuno's voice from the tunnel's entrance.

"Is it safe for me to come in, Kal?" she called.

"Yes!" he yelled back. Rone had already shrunk back into the corner by the time Ikuno's large blue form entered the room, partially bent over so she didn't scrape her horns on the ceiling of the passageway. "I think I've convinced Rone you aren't going to eat him. Find out anything interesting?" he asked.

Ikuno's eyes flicked to Rone's frightened visage, then directly to Kal's eyes. She dropped to her knees by the doorway and slowly crawled over to Kal, "The only man in danger of being eaten is you, Master," she said with a sly grin while shooting lustful glances at his groin.

Kal knew the display was for Rone's sake but that didn't stop the front of his trousers start to rise. Ikuno laid her head on his leg and Kal gently ran his fingers through her hair, getting a very honest purr from the oni. He looked up at Rone who had started to relax at the unexpectedly tender display, "Ikuno belongs to me, Rone. As I said before you have no need to fear her."

"How on earth did you tame an ogre?" the man said staring wide-eyed at the large blue woman.

Ikuno grunted in annoyance but Kal answered, "She's not an ogre. She's from the far east and called an oni. How she became mine is a story for another time." Kal looked down at her, "Did you find anything interesting?"

Ikuno sighed in disappointment, she had been enjoying the feeling of Kal's fingers through her hair. Sitting back on her feet with her knees out in front she said, "I think I have, and it may mean that we need to explore these caves some more. I'm beginning to think that this may have been a roc's nest."

Kal looked dubious, "A rock's nest? I'm pretty sure stones don't need nests."

Ikuno giggled, Kal knew it was for the kidnapped farmer's sake yet again, but it felt very out of place coming from her. "No, not like stones. Like the legendary bird, sounds the same but it's spelled differently. Imagine a bird that can make those scratches outside." Kal and even Rone nodded after a moment, "Those were made by a baby roc, barely out of its shell." Both men's faces showed their shock as Ikuno continued, "Rocs were known to have attendants, usually an elf for their long lives, whose main duty was to deal with the 'lesser races' on the roc's behalf. Where we are now would have likely been the attendant's quarters. Rocs are also known to be extremely magical, far beyond dragons even, as well as being master stone shapers, able to hide massive caves like this from those not worthy of being able to fly."

Kal sat quietly for a moment and processed everything Ikuno had said. "That must be why we never saw the cave entrance as we were climbing. You said we should explore the cave some?"

Ikuno gave him a beaming smile and nodded a little too vigorously, "Yes, Master!"

Kal sighed and looked at Rone who seemed to be completely at ease with Ikuno's presence. "Sorry, Rone," the man gave Kal a questioning look as he turned back to Ikuno. "Drop the act please, it's just too strange seeing you behaving like that."

Ikuno sighed as the look of adoration left her face and took on a more normal smile. "Fine then," she said. Rone seemed to be getting very agitated about the deception until the oni leaned forward and put her head back on Kal's leg then reached up and directed his hand to play with her hair again. "That's better," she said contentedly, then continued with her explanation. "I think we should see if there is any chance of even a tiny shard of the egg left or, if we got really lucky, a feather. Even after thousands of years, either one should still have far more magical potential than the harpy's egg."

"Then perhaps we should do that while Felli is still away," Kal looked over at Rone, "Any idea when she will be back?" he asked.

Rone stared at the oni seeming unsure of what to make of her, "She usually takes a few hours to hunt each time she leaves," he answered only paying partial attention to his words. "She left not too long before you two showed up." Rone looked up at Kal, "If you find something will you come back here or leave right away?"

Ikuno looked up at him, "If we find an egg shard then the next half of our journey won't be necessary, so we wouldn't need to leave right away."

"He is hoping that we might be able to rescue him. He was kidnapped a few days ago by the harpy that lives here," said Kal.

"I thought that may have been the case. If we find something in the nest, rescue could be a possibility. Unfortunately, feather fall wastes too much magic for me to guarantee a second person would be able to make it down the mountain and still have enough left for the trip east." Ikuno raised her head up and gave Kal a kiss on the cheek before standing, "That felt wonderful Kal. If he needs rescuing, it would be easiest to wait a couple of days and come back with Gerda once she returns."

"Gerda?" asked Rone nervously. He liked the oni better when she wasn't towering over him.

"Another one of Kal's women," said Ikuno, "She's an earth elemental and can move through rock like swimming in water. She can also take people with her. She can't get you home, but she can get you to the bottom of the mountain safely and quickly."

Kal stood as well, "Let's worry about that later. I'm curious to see what this roc's nest looks like."

Ikuno nodded and ducked as she entered the tunnel outside. Kal turned to Rone, "Think about what I said. Felli isn't dumb, she can be bargained with. She just wants you to give her a child, agree to that and you may be home as soon as tonight," he said before turning and following the oni.

Kal caught up with Ikuno as she started up the slope towards the nest. When she felt they were out of earshot of anyone standing inside the tunnel they just came out of she stopped and rounded on Kal.

"What are you up to Kal? When we started this journey, you were ready and willing to fuck this harpy, Felli or whatever her name is. Now you seem to be dead set on letting your friend in there do your dirty work for you."

"Rone is an acquaintance at best, not a friend. He may not be the most assertive guy but from what I know he's a decent man. Takes care of his animals and his woman too, his wife wouldn't put up with any mistreatment for even a second. I'd rather give Felli's chick a chance at having a father nearby then someone like me who will only be around every so often."

Ikuno seemed taken aback by his answer, "I must say I'm impressed. I was a little worried that your change of attitude might make you feel like you had free reign to put your cock in any hole that was available."

"Technically I could do just that," he said stepping up to the oni and slipping a hand underneath the leather flap to cup her pussy, making her gasp. "However, I have plenty of options already and sometimes have a hard time keeping up with those. I don't plan on adding any more to this little harem unless necessary."

"Hmm, maybe I should teach you that rejuvenation spell sooner rather than later if just the five of us are getting to be too much for you."

"'Just the five of you,'" Kal snorted and continued walking up the slope, "if I ran into another woman with yours and Perra's sex drive I think someone would just find an empty husk that used to be me fluttering in the breeze."

Ikuno followed him, "Hey now, that was Aradelle that tried to suck you dry, not me and Perra."

Kal laughed, "True, but you both have certainly have been trying your hardest to match what 'Dell did."

"Do you want us to stop?"

Kal smiled, "Not on your life."

It was late afternoon when a very confused Perra walked into Master Jurien's store. The normally jolly man had a dour look on his face.

"How can I help ya, Lady Perra," he said in an uncharacteristically exasperated tone.

"Um… Master Jurien is your daughter here?" she asked.

The apothecary looked surprised for a moment, "Aye she is, but she just lost her man a few days ago and is in no mood ta be talking ta customers."

"My apologies Master Jurien but I'm not here as a customer I came to see her specifically."

Jurien's eyes narrowed as he glared at Perra, "Marda! Lady Perra is here ta see you. Nina, you'd better come too," he yelled without turning. "Now don't be going and upsetting my girl she's had a hard couple of days."

Perra nodded nervously under the man's gaze as they waited. Moments later Marda pushed aside the leather curtain that covered the door to the back area soon followed by her mother.

It was plain from Marda's eyes she had been crying, "Can I help ya, Lady Perra?"

Perra struggled for a few seconds to find the right words before suddenly blurting out, "Your husband is alive!"

Hope was tempered by disbelief on all three faces in front of the young woman.

"Please don't be lying to me, Lady Perra."

"I'd almost bet my life on it that he was talking with Kal not long ago. What's more confusing is that Kal is hours away, getting spell components from a harpy in the northeastern mountains. I believe he is upset but unharmed."

Marda's eyes lit up, "A harpy! That would explain why his tracks just stopped in the middle of the field!"

Nina nodded at Marda's assessment having seen the tracks herself and readily accepted Perra's words. Knowing Rone was safe, she quickly reverted to her profession saying "Blast it, wish I had known that Kal was going to a harpy's nest. I could use a few feathers."

Jurien was more skeptical, "How on earth would you know that, Lady Perra."

Perra shook her head, the look of confusion evident on her face, "In all honesty Master Jurien… I don't know."

Her pendant glinted as the setting sun touched the treetops.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"I must say, it feels rather homey in here," said Kal looking around the roc's cavern.

Ikuno stared at him like he had grown a second head, "Have you lost your ever-loving mind? How on earth could this place feel 'homey'?"

Many hours ago, they had gone exploring the roc's cavern, a task that turned out to be much larger than expected. at the top of the slope was a crossroads that split off in three directions, instead of being a single large cavern. The southern path sloped down before opening up into a circular chamber large enough to hold the entire town of Telsin beneath its domed roof. The northern path sloped upward and opened into another chamber about twice the size of the first. The final chamber was twice again as large as the upper one and lay to the east, straight ahead from the cave entrance. Even making his small light spell as bright as possible, Kal still couldn't see the top of the final cavern.

Each of the upper chambers had a small pond worked into the stone floor with overflow tubes that ran down into the pond in the lower southern chamber, apparently for keeping the gigantic young bird watered. The southern pond had its own larger overflow that disappeared straight down into the depths of the mountain.

The chambers were also warmed magically from an ancient spell cast onto the floors, keeping the areas a comfortable temperature for the two explorers. A few mosses and lichens along with the occasional glowing fungus had managed to find enough resources for a meager living in the thick layer of dust covering everything but the pools. Unsurprisingly, bugs had not been able to make it up to these heights, so the layers of dust had remained untouched for what Ikuno believed to be many thousands of years.

Sadly, they never did find any trace of a roc's feather or egg shard. With his eyes glowing blue, Kal scanned as much of the floor as he could. His thinking was that a shard with the degree of magic Ikuno was talking about would shine brightly to his ability to see magic. Despite being weak in the divination school, Ikuno attempted to use a finder's spell to locate eggshells in the southern, and their first, cavern. Kal had almost fallen over laughing as they followed the small dancing purple flame back to the room with Rone and the harpy's nest, only to float over to the wall opposite the nest and alight on the broken shelves.

Rone skittered over toward the nest when Ikuno barked, "Shells! Not 'shelves', you moronic little flame!" The oni dismissed the spell before stomping over to the passage they had just come from and ducking inside. Kal wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes then followed her with a quick wave goodbye at Rone.

The same story was repeated for each of the other chambers with the flame dancing off towards the Felli's nest before Ikuno canceled it.

They now stood back at the crossroads with Ikuno looking down at Kal like he had gone insane.

"I'm just saying I can see a lot of potential here. Butcher, Tanner, Blacksmith and other tradesmen in the lower cave. Perhaps an inn and a merchant's area in the upper chamber along with a good-sized storehouse. Up ahead of us could be the living areas for the people here," said Kal pointing in each direction respectively, the light from the orb above them glinting off the iron gloves he had donned just in case the caverns were already occupied. While he was being cautious he had also hung his mask around his neck thinking there might be places with stale, stagnant, or even toxic air. It wasn't the first time he envied the oni and all of her natural immunities.

Ikuno gave him a sideways glance, "The frightening part is, now that I can see what you are talking about, it honestly doesn't seem like a bad idea." The oni chuckled, "Give a farmer a little bit of magic and he starts thinking about making his own city in a mountain."

"I'm just saying it's a possibility, not like I'm planning on doing it tomorrow," Kal said as he started down the slope towards Felli's nest. His light continued to float next to him since the sun had gone down while they were investigating the roc's nest. "Besides," he continued after a moment, "relations between harpies and humans would have to improve far beyond what they are now to get their assistance with carrying construction materials up here."

"You seem to be putting an awful lot of thought into this for just a flight of fancy," said Ikuno falling into step next to him.

Kal shrugged, "Perhaps if I become some bigshot mage I'll want to settle down somewhere, like Prentas did. Up here there's no chance of a repeat of Te'thalas. You can't kill people you can't reach."

Ikuno had to admit that he had a point.

As they approached the tunnel to the harpy's nest they could smell the scent of seared meat and hear an argument coming from inside.

"Why must you ruin a perfectly good rabbit by putting it on that heated rock!" came an unfamiliar female voice.

"I already told you twice Felli. Humans don't eat raw meat, we can get very sick from it. Now let me be, I haven't eaten since yesterday," responded Rone.

"After you eat will you come to the nest with me?"

There was a moment's hesitation before Rone said, "No Felli. I'm not sleeping with you." Kal could hear the lack of conviction in the man's voice all the way down the tunnel.

"Yay! You at least thought about it this time!" Felli said followed by a strange clicking sound. Kal had gotten far enough around the long bend in the tunnel to peer inside the room and saw the harpy jumping about happily, the long claws on her feet clicking against the stone. Kal couldn't see Rone from where he was standing but the smell of cooked rabbit wafting up the tunnel was making his mouth water. He smiled when he heard Ikuno smack her lips together quietly above and behind him, at least he wasn't alone.

A few seconds later there was a surprised squawk followed by frantic flapping and a light thump.

"Who put this thing here?!" complained the harpy.

Rone's exasperation at Felli's poor memory was almost tangible, "I told you the first time you tripped over it. Kal, the wizard from my village, made it to sit on when he was here." His voice took on an annoyed tone, "I'm guessing they found what they needed up in the caves and already left."

Kal stepped out from around the corner and began walking towards the harpy's living area. "Not yet we haven't!" he called out. "Especially when you have something that smells so delicious cooking," he continued as he entered the room.

Felli's eyes lit up as Kal walked into the room, likely from the prospect of another potential husband. When Ikuno came in right behind him a look of fear crossed the harpy's face as the oni stood up to her full height. Felli quickly bound over to Rone just as he was about to return Kal's greeting and grabbed him with the small clawed hands at the joints of her wings. Tossing the man into the same corner he had been hiding in earlier, she stood in front of him and glared at the large blue woman.

"You can't have my husband!" the harpy shrieked at Ikuno. Felli folded her wings back to bring her clawed hands to bear while raising up one of her bird-like feet and brandishing a set of wicked looking talons.

Kal took the moment of tense silence to get his first good look at a harpy. Her hair was shoulder length and had a pretty three-colored pattern with the top being a shimmering deep copper with blue-gray on the sides and a streak of jet-black that started right behind her ears. Kal couldn't place what seemed strange about her eyes until he realized her dark brown irises took up nearly her entire eye with whites only visible in the very corners. The way her brow came down as she glared at Ikuno along with the slightly elongated black tipped canines that looked a lot like the end of a hawk's beak left little doubt that her ancestors had been created from a line of raptors. The tops of her wings continued the blue-gray color of her hair but with black spots while the bottom edge switched to black with white spots along the feathers. Felli's abdomen was covered with tiny, extremely fine feathers that could easily be mistaken for fur and was a much paler copper color than her head, fading almost completely to white at her waist and dotted with small black spots like her wings. Her breasts seemed to be oddly shaped, starting at her shoulders and almost oval until Kal realized that those were the muscles she used for flying and that her breasts, though not very large, were in the normal place for a human. Protruding from her lower back and looking like a half skirt were some rich copper colored tail feathers with black tips. The only thing Kal was having a hard time wrapping his head around was her legs. The white fur-like feathers continued all the way down her legs to her feet and was all completely bird-like, even to the point of having her knees bend backwards. He did think that the odd shape of her legs must be why it was so easy for her to make a showing of her talons, as she was currently doing towards Ikuno.

Kal was certain that Felli was only a hair taller than Aradelle and the size difference between oni and harpy made the threatening display almost comical. However, he would think twice about stepping in range of those claws, they looked extremely sharp. Kal was also very curious how she had managed to throw a man twice her size and likely more than three times her weight into a corner so easily, or how she had managed to carry him up here in the first place.

Rone placed a hand on Felli's shoulder, "She belongs to Master Kal, she isn't here to steal me away," he said softly.

The harpy looked back at him and studied his face for a moment, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," said Rone, "she didn't try to run off with me earlier and I'm certain she won't now. Could you please let me out before my food burns?" Felli hesitantly allowed Rone out of the corner but stayed right by his side as he walked over to the stone cooktop. Tapping one of the runes on the side of the small stove, the sizzling coming from the pieces of meat quickly died away as Rone attempted to roll them around and keep them from burning.

Kal was surprised to see Rone knocking the food about with belt knife not much different from his own. He was about to ask the man why he didn't use it to attain his freedom from the harpy when he was kidnapped. Thankfully the answer came to him moments before asking, waving a knife at something that picked you up and carried you hundreds of feet into the air would be akin to suicide.

Rone looked around the room for a moment before sighing and stabbing one of the cooked pieces of meat and biting a piece off. Kal chuckled and stepped over next to the stool he had made earlier. Setting his pack off to the side and hanging his iron gloves from his belt he checked for any magical warming of the floor like in the larger caverns. Figuring that the warmth in the room must purely come from the cooktop, Kal made the now familiar circular motion with his hand before raising a table from the stone next to the stool. Going around the table he made a larger seat for Ikuno then another that was human-sized. The third he made slightly smaller before looking closely at Felli's legs and feet then pushing it back into the stone, instead, lifting up a smaller post and bending it over to create a stone perch.

As she tentatively stepped up onto the perch Kal was amazed at how much she looked like a bird compared to Bea who only had a handful of visible butterfly characteristics. Trade out Felli's nose and mouth for a beak and she would look like a giant sparrow hawk, though strangely her colors matched that of the male sparrow hawks instead of the females. Since Felli was the one trying to attract mates, it made a strange kind of sense.

"You two are a godsend," said Rone as Kal smoothed the top of the table and Ikuno handed him a small wooden plate she had dug out of her travel pack. The man only hesitated for a moment before taking the plate from the oni with a nod of thanks then started loading it up with the food from the cooktop.

Felli was stuck somewhere between amazement at what the human had just done and annoyance from all of the new stuff that was now in her living area. However, she genuinely appreciated the perch he made especially for her, walking on the hard stone for too long would start to hurt her feet.

Having already eaten the other rabbit she caught before coming home, the harpy felt somewhat out of place as the rest of them sat down for supper. The two newcomers pulled out small packages of dried meat, dried fruits, and cheese from their bags before joining her husband. She became especially curious when the other human slid a small container over to Rone. Her husband unscrewed the cap and looked inside before groaning in delight and sprinkling the white crystals over his food.

Felli looked on in confusion as there was a small round of bartering and trading between the three, her husband swapping pieces of his burnt meat for bits of cheese from the man and even some of the dried fruits from the big blue woman.

The harpy's confusion grew when the man reached over and plucked the piece of meat the blue woman had just traded for from her hand, something that ruffled her feathers in annoyance. The large woman looked on in disappointment but never attempted to take the food back. A moment later the man cut off a small piece and offered it back to her, smiling the woman leaned forward and gingerly took it from his fingers. He repeated this with the rest of the meat, then did the same with the one he himself had traded for, only keeping the last piece, which he ate with obvious pleasure.

Felli was so caught up in the interplay between Kal and Ikuno that she missed the look Kal gave Rone, glancing down at Rone's plate then over to the harpy. As the two strangers tucked into the rest of their meal a voice came from off to the harpy's side.

"Felli?" said Rone, holding up a small chunk of meat.

Though she wasn't hungry, the fact that her husband was offering her some of his food filled the harpy with a strange kind of elation. Felli resisted the urge to snap the food from his fingers and she gently took it from him after remembering what the woman across the table had done. As soon as it touched her tongue Felli understood why the others chewed their food so slowly, it tasted amazing!

The harpy didn't have a crop like her smaller cousins to catch the things she couldn't digest; however, she still had the natural habit of stripping the meat off her prey and swallowing it whole, her claws and talons allowing her to avoid eating things like bones and fur. Chewing her food, and cooked food at that, was a very new experience for her. After Rone had eaten a bite, she made a chirping noise that sounded very close to 'Please?'

Rone offered Felli every other bite, the harpy's expression becoming more adoring with each piece she took from his fingers. Unfortunately, this meant that his meal ended up far smaller than he had hoped. Rone couldn't hide his appreciation when Ikuno stated that she was full and pushed her remaining bit of cheese and dried fruit over to him.

When supper had been cleaned up and everyone seemed settled Kal spoke up, "My apologies Felli, Rone told us your name when we met earlier but we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Kal and I am the local wizard of the town Rone is from. This here is my companion and teacher Ikuno, she is an oni from the far east who settled in this area. We came up here in hopes of being able to trade for one of your eggs, unfertilized of course."

"Why?" she asked.

"We need it for something special, but it will be destroyed in the process, so it needs to be unfertilized. Not that we would take one that would become a chick anyways."

"You're a wizard! Can you make my husband want to stay with me?" Felli asked with hope in her eyes. Rone looked at Kal, terrified for a moment that he might be able to do such a thing.

Kal chuckled, "No, I can't do that kind of magic. Even if I could, I wouldn't. You will have to find a way to get him to stay on your own."

"Then I don't think you have anything that I need."

Kal cringed, "Actually I do, it's a suggestion that I'm going to give you both that I strongly recommend you follow. Though I can't guarantee a good outcome I think it's the best option for getting you both what you are wanting, enough so that I think it would be worth one of your eggs. Do we have a deal?" said Kal holding out his hand.

"He's going to suggest WHAT!?" yelled Marda.

"Preposterous!" cried Master Jurien.

Lady Nina just stared at Perra, shocked beyond words.

Perra rubbed her temples. The apothecary had been kind enough to invite her in for supper after her declaration earlier, in hopes of gleaning more information about Rone. This latest tidbit was, unfortunately, going over about as well as she had expected.

"All the girl really wants is the chance to have a child," Perra indicated towards Marda's belly, "you of all people should be able to understand that right now."

Marda and Nina gasped in shock as Jurien looked on in confusion.

"How the hell are ya knowin' that Lady Perra," Marda said in little more than a whisper.

"Knowin' what?" asked Jurien.

Nina turned to her husband, "Marda believed she was with child when she came here, I confirmed it just before Lady Perra arrived. Until now, only Marda, Rone and I knew"

"HOW THE HELL DID YA KNOW THAT!" yelled Marda.

Perra glared at the woman and said through gritted teeth, "Like I told your father. I. Don't. Know."

Felli looked over at Rone, the man shrugged and said, "He hasn't told me anything about this plan of his."

The harpy looked back to Kal, "I'm happy with how things are, I see no reason to give up an egg for something that 'might' work."

Kal leaned back, "That's part of why I want to make this suggestion. By the end of the week, Rone will be gone from here."

Felli squawked and hopped off her perch running over to fold her wings protectively around her husband, "No! You can't take him!"

"I won't but one of my women will and there's nothing you can do about it. One moment you will be talking to him and the next he will be gone, on his way back to his proper wife."

"Nooo!" the harpy wailed in despair, clutching Rone tightly she started to sob.

"You're a bastard Kal," said Rone, glaring at the young wizard as he pulled Felli around and cradled her in his arms. "Doing this to her after you told me about the difference in her eggs and knew I wouldn't be able to see her as just a monster anymore. I see what you're doing and you're a right bastard for it." Despite his seething words he started rocking and comforting the distraught harpy. "There's a storage room across the cave entrance, it's heated like this one. I think you should leave us alone for a couple hours."

Kal nodded and looked over at Ikuno, her disapproval written plainly on her face. He sighed as he got up and made his way towards the exit, Ikuno following close behind. Outside, Kal stopped and turned to speak to Ikuno only to find her leaning down with her face inches from his own.

"I know why you did that," she growled, eyes glowing red in the faint moonlight coming into the cave. "For their sake, I hope whatever plan you have works out. Still. That was a dick move, no pussy for you tonight," she said, stalking off towards the storeroom entrance. Kal would have argued his certainty that this was going to work out for the best, but despite his good intentions he felt like a complete asshole and that Ikuno's words were deserved.

The tunnel to the storeroom was shaped much like the one to Felli's home and was just as tall, which Ikuno did not appreciate. As they walked in, crystals set into the ceiling began to glow until the entire area was bathed in light.

"It's amazing that these enchantments have lasted so long," said Ikuno as she stretched and worked the kinks out of her back from walking hunched over through the tunnels.

"From everything I've learned and what you've told me they shouldn't," said Kal looking around. There wasn't much to see, the wooden shelves had all turned to piles of dust over the centuries with only a couple managing to remain as intact as the one in the attendant's quarters. As in the caverns above there was a thick layer of dust, however, there were various human footprints here and there, as well as a couple made by a harpy, indicative of previous explorers. Other than the lines of dust that used to be shelves it was really just a large rectangular room. It was heated as Rone had said but not by the stove like outcropping in the other smaller cavern, instead, these were oblong stone nodules in the center of each of the walls that seemed to give off just enough heat to keep the room comfortable for humans.

Kal helped Ikuno clear a small area of centuries of dust so they could lay out their bedrolls, then went over to inspect the heating stones. He was curious what could sustain an enchantment like this for so long. Using his magical sight, he was unable to make out any details until he focused inward and filled himself with the energy, as his eyes started to glow the flows of magic became sharper. On the back side of the heating stone, he could make out a brightly glowing circle that he assumed was a rune of some sort but he was unable to make out what was keeping it powered. Seeing nothing if he moved to the right or left of the stone he got down on his hands and knees and looked below it. Through the rock he could make out a faint trace of a line of energy that ran downward, moving to either side he was able to tell that it did not angle away at all. Kal sat back lost deep in thought.

"Everything okay?" asked Ikuno from over by their bedrolls.

"They are being powered from below."

"Crystals somewhere in the heart of the mountain?"

Kal shook his head, "No, it comes from straight down." Kal stood up, "I need to check something in the larger caverns, care to come with?"

Ikuno looked around, "That means I'd miss out on all of this stimulating conversation with piles of ancient dust!" she said in mock horror. "Let's go," she said smiling as Kal rolled his eyes at her.

Holding the edges of his cloak taut, Kal brought it down with as much force as he could muster with the help of his strength rune. As a huge cloud of dust went billowing away from him and Ikuno exposing the rock beneath, the strength rune flickered out.

Kal swore under his breath as he saw the red glow fade, checking the crystal in his vambrace he confirmed that it was empty. He momentarily thought about asking Ikuno to recharge it since his extras were back in the storeroom but she was annoyed with him right now, best to not make things worse by treating her like a living battery. He swung his cloak over his shoulders and fastened it before kneeling onto the magically warmed floor. Kal's eyes glowed as he attempted to see the flows of magic through the rock once again. He barely managed to peer through all of the swirls and eddies just below the surface to see a line of magic running straight down.

"You seem to have found something interesting," Ikuno said as Kal stood and tilted his head back, closing his eyes in concentration.

"What if a roc isn't insanely magical at birth?"

"Interesting question, where is this coming from?"

The glow faded as he opened his eyes and looked at her, "Why would a developing roc need three separate chambers to grow?"

Ikuno eyed him curiously, "Another good question, but still one I can't answer."

"Think of these warming rocks as basking stones for lizards but instead of heat and from sunlight they're magic for a baby roc."

Ikuno nodded, "Okay I'm following you there."

"After a while, the lizard needs to move because the stone beneath him gets cold."

Catching on, Ikuno continued for him, "In this case, the roc has used up all the magic directly below them and needs to move to one of the other chambers. That begs the question: where is the magic coming from?"

Kal closed his eyes again for a moment, "Unless my estimates of yours and Gerda's speeds are way off, this mountain is directly above the crystal cavern Gerda and I went to."

"Impressive. Any way to verify that?" Ikuno asked.

"Not until Gerda gets back, unfortunately."

"Suddenly your idea of setting up a permanent home here doesn't seem nearly as ridiculous."

Kal beamed at the blue oni.

"Don't be flashing me that smile, boy. Just because I'm impressed doesn't mean I'm not annoyed with you for making Felli cry. You're still cut off for tonight. Speaking of which, let's go see if they are done talking," she said before making her way back towards the cave entrance.

"Awww," said Kal as he jogged to catch up with her.

Behind them two sets of glowing, solid red eyes opened and looked down, watching as the intruders left before silently peeling themselves away from the rock face up by the apex of the cavern.

"Wait up a minute, Ikuno," said Kal as they reached the top of the slope leading to the entrance.

"Hmm?"

"I want you to understand that I feel like an ass for what I did to Felli, and Rone for that matter. I know I'm being a manipulative bastard like Rone said, and to be honest I hate it. Perhaps, more importantly, I need you to understand that I would never do something like this if I didn't see a positive outcome for them. Huh?" Kal turned toward the chamber they had just come from.

The whistling of wind over stone wings was the only warning they got before clawed feet closed on Kal's shoulders and dragged him off towards the entrance. As Kal cried out in surprise the leading edge of a wing clipped Ikuno's arm, spinning her and sending her tumbling down the slope until she stopped by digging claws into the rock below.

A second winged figure went gliding through the place Ikuno had been standing a moment before. With its target already partway down the slope the stone construct angled down and came to rest where the path leveled off, blocking off the blue woman's exit.

Ikuno picked herself up and calmly walked towards the figure, summoning her club as she strode down the stone ramp. Stopping a few paces away she looked the creature up and down. Bald, long pointed ears, pointed teeth with fangs, wings, clawed hands and feet, long tail. The only thing keeping it from sitting on the corner of some cathedral was the glowing eyes and mottled gray coloration that was likely for camouflage in the large caverns.

"Gargoyle? I must say the last time I saw one of you she was a lot prettier. A bit more 'correct' too," she said indicating the construct's smooth groin. "Why have you attacked us?"

The gargoyle opened its mouth, but its lips didn't move as it spoke in an eerie hollow voice, "The crystal cavern must remain a secret. All who know of its existence must be destroyed."

"You two are doing a piss-poor job of that. The man your partner ran off with had been inside that cave along with another friend of mine."

"No matter, he will be dead soon. As will you."

"I wouldn't count on that," said Ikuno stepping closer and waving the end of her club in the gargoyle's face. "We may prove to be harder to kill than you think."

Few creatures could tell the nature of Ikuno's club at a glance, the gargoyle was not one of those. Reaching out, the construct's hand closed around the end of the club, unbothered by the spikes and intending to pull the weapon out of her grasp. Instead, the living statue's glowing red eyes winked out and its body went solid as the magic was sucked out of it.

"Thought so," the oni said with a smirk. Ikuno twisted her club free snapping off some of the gargoyle's fingers. Once released of the oni's support the statue leaned to one side before crashing to the ground, snapping off the wing it landed on. While almost imperceptible, the inner corners of its eyes began glowing faintly red as the large blue woman walked away.

Ikuno headed towards the entrance, "'All who know of its existence must be destroyed!'" she muttered, mocking the gargoyle. "How many times have I heard something along those lines? Why can't it be 'all who know of its existence shall be fed baklava until they explode!' Nope, bad idea. Baklava is delicious, people would be lining up to die that way." Out on the ledge, her club disappeared with a small flash before she summoned the brightest light she could muster to act as a beacon for Kal. "While I'm asking impossible questions: What is the deal with things made of stone stealing Kal from me?" she said looking into the night sky with a worried expression.

Kal was doing his best to maintain a level head after the shock of being lifted into the air and flown out of the roc's cave. The pain in his shoulders was intense but tolerable, the fabric of his cloak just barely preventing the creature's claws from penetrating his skin. As the creature flew higher Kal drew the rune for the telekinesis cantrip and used it to lift his mask up to his face then pull one of the straps up as far as it could up the back of his head before the spell gave out. Out in the open, the front rune on the mask glowed dimly, only needing to gather more air from the surrounding area and not having to purify it. As he looked out and began to see the moonlight reflecting off the tops of clouds he wondered just how high this thing was going to take him.

Kal knew he could save himself from being dropped with the feather fall rune but he was going to need some way to get all the way back to the cave. Unfortunately, he didn't have a set of wings like Felli to direct his descent whenever the thing holding him decided to let go. Or did he?

The gargoyle stopped climbing and hovered for a moment. Looking down at its captive it said, "Goodbye human," in a hollow voice, just before letting the man go. There was just enough light for the creature to see the human roll onto his back and make a rude gesture before flipping back over and starting to wrestle with his wind-whipped cloak. The gargoyle smirked at the doomed human's spirit right up until the man's cloak started catching air and he began streaking off back towards the cave. Growling in annoyance the construct folded its wings and dove after the infuriatingly resourceful human.

Kal's gesture may have been totally unnecessary, but it certainly made him feel good for that brief moment. After quickly adjusting the straps on his mask he frantically worked to get his cloak spun around to his front, a difficult task with the wind trying to drag it off him. Once accomplished, he tucked the hood down against his chest then grabbed handfuls of material out towards the edges. Kal immediately felt the difference as he pulled the fabric taut and his fall slowed significantly. As he angled his body towards the peak they had just come from he saw a bright light begin to glow on one side.

"Thank you, Ikuno," he said behind the mask.

Kal drifted slightly to the right and left as he got a feel for how to control himself in the air. He chanced a look away from the fast-approaching mountainside and saw the creature chasing him, its red eyes narrowed in anger. Kal knew he was at a huge disadvantage in the air compared to the stone construct and needed all the help he could get, a moment later his eyes glowed blue as he remembered what Ikuno had said about his reaction time. He also discovered that he could now sense the magic within the creature behind him without looking.

As the construct reached out to grab his ankle, Kal quickly banked away and activated the feather fall rune, his sudden lightness acting as a brake in the air. Kal let go of his cloak and quickly reached out with a rope of magic, attaching it to the base of its wing as it zipped past. The connection solidified and Kal's strength rune flared brightly as he jerked his arm backwards. The force and shock sheared the wing from the creature and it shrieked as it spiraled into the darkness below. A moment later the stone wing followed it as Kal dispelled the magical rope it was attached to.

Kal breathed a sigh of relief and checked his internal energy stores as he gently floated downward. Seeing that he was in no danger of running out of magic but also seeing that feather fall was burning through those stores quickly he smoothed out his cloak and leaned forward before slowly cutting power to the rune.

A short time later Kal made a stumbling landing at the entrance of the cave, completely overshooting the ledge Ikuno was standing on. The feather fall rune made sure he came down lightly, but he severely misjudged how fast he was going. He managed a couple of off-balance steps before his cloak wrapped around his legs and he ungracefully fell forward, skidding along the stone floor. Ikuno jogged over bringing the light with her as Kal picked himself up, his healing rune glowing to take care of the scrapes on his hands and chin.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he dusted off before turning his cloak back around.

Kal's eyes shined with joy as he looked up at her, "That was amazing! After the part where the rock thing with wings tried to kill me, of course."

"They're called gargoyles, magical sentinels and protectors," Ikuno informed him. "What happened to the one that took you?" she asked glancing back towards the entrance.

"It's in a thousand pieces at the bottom of the mountain I hope. I managed to rip off one of its wings." He looked around and saw the remnants of the one that attacked Ikuno, "Any idea why they came after us?"

"Apparently we aren't supposed to know about the crystal cavern below us. At least that's what the statue over there said just before grabbing my club. Looks like you won't need Gerda's help with verifying that after all."

Stone scraped against stone as the drained gargoyle moved enough to look towards the ramp leading to the other chambers. Its eyes barely glowed enough to tell they were supposed to be red. "Beware the blue one's weapon," it said in its hollow voice, completely ignoring Kal and Ikuno.

They looked towards the slope and saw five dark winged figures with red eyes cautiously descending.

"Light, Kal," said Ikuno. Kal quickly summoned his smaller orb of light as Ikuno's iron club appeared in her hand, the oni's brighter orb winking out in the same moment.

He quickly untied his plated gloves from his belt and donned them. "We've already taken out two of you, I doubt you five will fare any better," he called out to the gargoyles.

"Nice try Kal, but that won't work on these, they're magic sentinels they quite literally cannot back down," said Ikuno.

"That's too bad," Kal's eyes glowed blue, "Center of the chest seems to be where all the magic is coming from."

"Got it," said Ikuno as she drew her arm back and threw the club forward so fast it screamed through the air instead of whistled. The center of her intended target turned to powder with a resounding crack as the club struck it then disappeared with a small flash. Kal shook off his momentary amazement at the display of power, he occasionally forgot how much the club boosted Ikuno's strength.

Strength and haste runes came to life on Kal's bracers as he rushed forward to engage the first enemy. The gargoyle ducked down and brought its wings around in front of it protectively. Kal nimbly hopped over the crouching stone construct and landed behind it's back. With both runes shining nearly white Kal aimed a massive blow at the bundle of magic in the middle of its chest. Much like the geode he got the amethyst for Perra's pendant from, his fist passed all the way through in a spray of stone and gem. Pulling his hand out of the hole he saw the glittering remnants of a large ruby inside.

"Oh," said Kal. As the other gargoyle came around his inert companion Kal held out a hand towards it. Kal stretched and shaped the gemstone powering the gargoyle in as many directions as he could at once. The construct stopped as if frozen, its red eyes fading as the shattered gemstone in its chest could no longer power it.

Ikuno had just tapped both of her opponents along with the one she faced off against earlier with her club turning them into statues. She now stood watching Kal intently. "What did you do to that one?" she asked.

"Remember when I told you about learning how to shape amethyst?"

Ikuno nodded.

"These are powered by large rubies," he said patting the statue on the shoulder. "I shaped this one's ruby the wrong way."

"Nice, so that one has ruby dust inside it? I could use that if you can get it out." She bumped the two gargoyles in front of her with the end of her club. "These ones too if possible."

Minutes later Kal's efforts netted them a pouch of ruby dust, two whole fist-sized rubies as well as one cracked ruby from his first attempt at removing one.

Kal and Ikuno then pushed them off to the sides and arranged them facing the walls. For some reason, it felt wrong to just chuck them off the ledge to shatter on the rocks below.

Kal went in and explained to Rone and Felli what all of the noise had been about and that everyone was safe. He was mildly annoyed that he had to reintroduce himself because the harpy had already forgotten his name. Thankfully she hadn't forgotten his offer and informed him that they would give him an answer tomorrow. Kal chose to keep quiet that it had been 'they' and not 'he' or 'she' that would be making the decision.

By the time Kal walked out of the tunnel and into the cave entrance, the adrenaline had worn off and he was feeling completely exhausted. Ikuno was sitting next to the storeroom entrance reading a book she had brought with the help of a small light on her shoulder. As he came closer she reached out and pulled him down for a kiss. She then took him by the arm and fished out the crystal in his vambrace. It glowed briefly as she touched it to one of her horns, recharging it.

After tucking it back into his vambrace's pocket she said, "Get some rest Kal, I'll keep watch for tonight."

"Watch? Why?" he asked. His eyelids felt like they had lead weights hanging from them.

"Just a precaution until we can confirm that the last gargoyle is dead. Go, Kal, or you won't make it to your bed and fall asleep in the tunnel."

Kal nodded as he stifled a yawn and ambled into the tunnel leading to the storeroom.

Ikuno chuckled and returned to her book.

Perra flopped back into her bed, completely exhausted. She had been having a dream about some big discovery when she was startled awake by the feeling of being grabbed and lifted into the air, only the feeling didn't go away when she woke up. Vague thoughts and feelings came to her that she knew Kal was experiencing at that moment.

She was almost frightened by the calm almost cold logic Kal was capable of as he planned out not only how to save himself but also get back to the roc's cave, even while being carried away. Soon after, she wanted to jump around and yell with joy once Kal's pursuer was gone and he was able to truly enjoy the experience of gliding during his return to the mountain. A few minutes later there was a huge buildup that made Perra want to fight something that stopped so suddenly it was like the feeling had been cut with a knife, replaced by something that bordered on disappointment that whatever he was facing wasn't nearly as strong as he had anticipated. The next few minutes had been minor, fleeting glimpses of conversations that she had to concentrate hard to make anything out but was unable to glean anything more than Kal was talking with Rone and the harpy. Finally, Kal had gone to sleep allowing the young woman to relax.

The disturbing thing for her was that, only working off Kal's strongest feelings, she had no context for what was happening. Not to mention that she still had no idea why this was happening at all.

There was a crash and a cry from the living area, Perra threw off the covers and ran out of the room, mindless of her nudity.

"Mom!" she cried seeing Kal's mother sprawled out on the floor. Perra bent down and lifted her up into her sewing chair. One of Ikuno's enchanted stones dimly lit the room; Kal had asked her to make it when his mother started sleeping out there, so she would have a small bit of light to see by if she decided to go back to her own bed instead of the cot. Seeing a bit of blood above her eye Perra ran back into her room and got her light stone for going over to Ikuno's. "Luma," she said and they both squinted as the stone began to shine. Perra grabbed some strips of cloth that she kept next to the chair and used it to dab up the blood, thankfully the cut wasn't very big. Tossing the bloodied strip to the side she retrieved a clean cloth and pressed it against the wound.

"My apologies Perra," said Kal's mother, "The noise coming from your room woke me. I was just coming to see if you were okay."

"That's quite alright Mom, your son has been getting into trouble and, for some reason, I can feel when he does. I didn't realize I was being so noisy."

"You haven't done this 'bonding' thing like with Ikuno and the others have you?" The woman's distaste for the word was palpable.

"No," she said with a little bit of sadness, "Ikuno doesn't believe humans have enough natural magic to do something like that."

Kal's mother was quiet for a moment, "You want that, don't you Perra?" she asked.

The girl nodded, "I love him Mom, Ikuno and the others are connected to him in a way I can't be. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit jealous."

"Still sounds like slavery to me," she grumbled.

"Hah! You should see how Kal and Ikuno act towards each other. If that's slavery I think Kal is doing it wrong." Perra saw the frown of annoyance at the mention of Ikuno, "Oops, sorry." Talk of the oni had become a sore spot for Kal's mother with both her son and Perra absolutely insistent that she know nothing about the mystery woman teaching her son magic.

Changing the subject, the older woman reached out and hefted one of Perra's breasts. Being with my son has been good to you, they seem to be bigger." Perra raised a questioning eyebrow as Kal's mother slid her hand down to her stomach, "or is there another reason?"

"No, Mom," Perra said pushing her hand away, "I haven't made that decision." Perra got a far-off look, "or maybe I have I just haven't been able to tell Kal yet."

"If you are bearing his child he might stay," she said hopefully.

Perra smiled, "That's exactly the problem, his destiny is out there somewhere and far larger than this little farm and little town. You can see it when he's studying magic or learning how to protect himself. I don't think I could forgive myself for denying him that, as much as I would love to have his baby."

The older woman's face fell as Perra spoke, that hadn't been the answer she was expecting. "You're so committed to him, even willing to share him with other women and give up your own chances of having a child. I'm starting to think he doesn't deserve you."

Perra checked the wound and saw that it had stopped bleeding. "I haven't given up anything yet, I just may have to wait a bit longer than some of his other women." Kal's mother snorted in derision and Perra's eyes narrowed, "careful Mom, right after my birthday I had a far different view of the situation. Now I take pride in being one of Kal's women."

The older woman looked up at Perra in surprise at her vehement tone. "Then why haven't you been to visit Ikuno since your birthday?" she asked.

Perra let out a great sigh, "Jealousy, I think. Not of the physical aspects, but because they all share a bond with him and I don't. Seeing them would just be a reminder of that."

Kal's mother put a hand on the young girl's cheek, "You know how much I hate this whole bonding idea. However, as much as I dislike it, I want to see you happy. Even if humans don't have enough magic for you to form a bond like Ikuno and the rest," her hand slid down until it rested on Perra's pendant, "perhaps this does."

Perra looked down as the older woman uncovered Kal's birthday gift to her. It had become so much a part of her that she often forgot about it, which was easy due to the way it seemed to attach itself to her. Even riding Bonn at full gallop, the pendant stayed securely against her skin where Kal had placed it when he first gave it to her. Since that night she had only taken it off a couple of times those first few days to go to sleep. A few nights later, after a tiring day working the farm with Kal, she forgot to place it on her nightstand and woke up to find it had not moved as she shifted about in her sleep. Since then she had only removed it for a few minutes to bathe; lately, even that had been rare. Though she hardly noticed it while it was on, she felt a sharp sense of loss without it hanging around her neck.

Perra giggled, "You may be right Mom. There's also a good chance this is the reason I keep getting flashes of what he is up to. I should have thought of that." She put her arms around the older woman, "Thank you."

Kal's mother tentatively hugged her back, "This would be a lot more comfortable if you weren't naked."

Perra laughed and pulled back rolling her eyes, "You saw me naked plenty of times when we were sharing a bed."

"True, however, you weren't of marrying age or sleeping with my son then, also it was for a few seconds as you put your nightgown on, which I see you don't wear anymore, not an entire conversation."

Perra giggled, "Fair enough, would you like me to go put something on before I help you back to bed?"

"Pfft…" she said waving off the younger woman's suggestion, "doesn't matter much now. Help me up, all this talk has tired me."

Perra helped the older woman to bed before returning to hers and Kal's. A frown crossed her face as she closed the door behind her, Kal's mother was so weak now there was no way she could have made it to bed on her own, the strangest part was that she hadn't seemed that weak even as Perra had picked her up and helped her into the chair minutes earlier.

Someone was tugging down Perra's trousers, she frantically tried to reach for them but they were always just barely out of reach. When they got to her knees a long tongue swirled around one of her balls and ran up the underside of her cock before blue lips closed over the head.

"WHAT!" Perra cried out in panic and sitting up in bed. She threw the covers off her lower half and patted her groin, checking herself over to be sure nothing had changed as her breathing returned to normal.

"Blue lips," she groaned, closing her eyes and falling back onto the bed. "Fuck you, Ikuno."

"This area right here just below the head is the most sensitive part," Ikuno told the wide-eyed harpy just before running her tongue around the area she had just mentioned.

"Are you seriously giving her lessons?" said Kal while trying to block out the wonderful feelings from his prick and be properly annoyed with the oni. He briefly noted that his cock was normal and not oni-sized.

Ikuno looked up at him, her head tilted sideways, and long tongue wrapped around the shaft just below the head. "Uh huh," she said nodding then sensuously dragged her tongue back into her mouth while staring at him with eyes filled with lust. The feeling made Kal buck his hips involuntarily.

Ikuno looked over at Felli, "Remember: don't suck a cock unless he just needs to get off really quick, any other time, you make love to it. Now, down here we have the balls, some guys enjoy it a little rough with these boys, but most don't. Always start out very gentle and work your way up to what he likes…"

Ikuno went on to tell the harpy all of the finer points of giving blowjobs, repeating the 'Remember: don't suck a cock…' bit after each new lesson. Kal would have thought that the oni was being silly drilling that one part into her head. He would have also discovered how wrong he was when Felli acted like it was the first time Ikuno had said the phrase. However, the oni was throwing in just enough stimulation to keep him on edge the entire time so he noticed nothing but her mouth and tongue.

Kal finally had enough and looked over at Felli, "Last lesson. If you tease a man for too long, you can expect this to happen." Taking dual handfuls of Ikuno's white hair he pulled her up and over his cock. Ikuno had just enough time to flash the harpy a grin and make a noise of agreement before Kal plunged his prick into her mouth, pulling her down at the same time. Since he was already about to come Ikuno took him to the root and held him there his cock growing from normal to oni-sized within her mouth and slipping directly into her throat. Ikuno worked the muscles in her throat around his head until he came with a groan and shot straight into her stomach. He had tried to push her up so he could come in her mouth the way she liked but she had stayed firmly put even after he had shrunk back to normal size. She continued to clean him for the next minute or so until Kal suddenly got a strong impression over Ikuno's bond that Felli needed to leave.

"Felli?" The harpy reluctantly dragged her eyes from the oni. "I think your lesson is done except that Ikuno believes you should always swallow, and you should always clean your man up afterward." Ikuno nodded in agreement without releasing his prick, "Could you step outside, so we can get ourselves sorted? We'll be out in a little while." he asked

The harpy looked back at Ikuno with a mixture of longing and disappointment before nodding to Kal and leaving.

"Okay why did I just send her away Ikuno?" he asked once he was sure Felli was out of earshot.

Ikuno gave him one long final suck as she pulled off him, making Kal wince as her lips rolled across the over-sensitive head. "Oops, sorry about that. Remember what you did to Gerda when you met her? If Felli had gotten a whiff of your seed she might have either gone after you or ran off and raped Rone, both of which would have likely ruined your plan."

"Hmm… good call on that I think you may have been right. Would you like to come up here and let me return the favor?"

Ikuno let out a little moan of desire before crawling over and throwing a leg over him before lowering her dripping pussy to his mouth. "I knew there was a reason I love you. Even after all that teasing you still don't leave me in need."

Kal responded by sucking her clit into his mouth and flicking it with his tongue while reaching up under the strip of leather that covered her breasts and tweaking her nipples. The oni was already worked up and it didn't take long before her whole body shuddered and Kal was busily lapping at her sex to keep up with the small flood of her natural juices.

Ikuno lifted off of him and cleaned his face as much as she could with her tongue before helping him get presentable. Once done with that she lay down on her own bedroll with a yawn. "Felli and I went out and found your missing gargoyle already this morning, it's amazing how much that girl can carry. You may want to try to get the ruby if Felli will take you there, the torso was pretty much the only thing to survive the fall. She may not do it for free though, that's how I ended up giving blowjob lessons earlier. I think I'm going to take a nap for a few hours," she said closing her eyes.

Kal smiled and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead and getting a contented purr from the oni. "Get some rest, I need to talk with Rone and Felli anyways," he said as he got up to leave.

"Good luck," she mumbled a second before her breathing became deep and even.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Kal stepped out of the tunnel from the storeroom to see Felli standing a few paces away. She was standing looking out the cave entrance watching a couple of large birds gliding along the stiff mountain breezes. She turned to look at him as he stepped up next to her and blushed furiously.

"A little late for that after what you just saw," he said watching one of the birds tuck its wings and dive out of sight.

Felli blushed even harder "The blue lady and I talked some this morning, she was telling me there's more to keeping a man happy than just…" she motioned towards her bottom half with a wing. "If Rone changes his mind I want to be able to make him happy any way I can."

"What if the only way to make him happy is to let him go back to his wife?" Kal asked.

The harpy's face fell, "I… I don't think I can do that mister… umm… what's your name again?"

Kal sighed, "My name is Kal, I'm a mage from Rone's town," he almost added 'remember?' but thought better of it, she obviously didn't. "Why couldn't you?" he asked.

Her eyes shined like he was on the verge of tears, "It gets so terribly lonely up here. I don't want to live alone anymore. I didn't know that Rone had a wife until we got back here, or I would have found someone else. Once he was here with me I just couldn't take him back, no matter how much he begged. Mister Kal, I think I'd be happy if he kept sleeping in the corner instead of with me, just as long as he stayed," she said looking up at him as a lone teardrop ran down her cheek.

"Let's go talk to Rone, see if we can come up with a solution. No more deals or trades like yesterday. I'll give you both the idea I was thinking of and you can decide if it's worth one of your eggs."

Felli's expression changed to one of mild confusion, "Why?"

"I realized yesterday that even though my intentions were good I was being an ass because I was mostly trying to get what I wanted. It didn't feel good to me and Ikuno was pissed at me for it. So, today I'm going to not worry about what I want and just try to help you and Rone. If my actions are worth one of your eggs, then good for me. If not, perhaps we can come to a different arrangement."

"That doesn't sound much like the man who threatened to steal Rone away."

"Don't get me wrong, Felli. Until he tells me otherwise he will still be rescued in a few days by my rock golem friend." He turned her towards the tunnel leading to her nest, "let's see if we can come up with a better solution."

Her face went from shocked and angry to accepting as he spoke. As they were about to enter the tunnel to her nest she looked up at him, "Who's Ikuno?"

"It won't work," said Rone despondently as he sat across the stone table from Kal. Instead of resting on her perch Felli was standing next to Rone while he absentmindedly ran his hand down her back.

"Why not?" asked Kal. "I'm sure that you could make Marda see how useful having Felli around could be."

"Marda isn't the problem, Kal. It's her sister, she's supposed to be coming back soon to take over the healing and midwifing as well as set up a small church here in town. Even if I were to convince Marda, Master Jurien and Lady Nina to accept this, her sister never would. Marda told me the church already has issues with apothecaries, calling their remedies 'heathen magic' and saying the only true healing comes from servants of the goddess. That didn't settle too well with her since she plans on following in Lady Nina's footsteps."

Kal rested his arms on the table in front of him, the church was coming to Telsin. This didn't bode well. "Any idea why they decided to set up a church here? The capitol has never cared a whit about our little town as long as they got their taxes."

"Marda's sister, Elta I think her name is, told her about a group of knights coming through last year and suggesting they keep an eye on this area. According to Lady Nina, when they found out Elta was from Telsin they began hurrying her through her training. Who better to keep an eye on things than one of the town's own. No offense intended, Kal, but with you suddenly becoming a mage not long after this supposedly happened along with your blue lady friend, I can't help but wonder if you were the reason for that."

Kal groaned an put his forehead on the cold stone table, bouncing it a few times in irritation. Felli was so wrapped up in Rone running his hands down her back she missed the conversation and was wondering if the young wizard was sick.

"I wish I could say you were wrong Rone, but I'm pretty sure Ikuno and I know exactly which knights you are talking about," said Kal raising his head up.

"It's really too bad," said Rone running his hands through Felli's hair, "even without her magic, her eyesight alone would be a huge help to Marda and her parents."

"How so? Also, what do you know about her magic? I meant to ask her outside, but we got to talking about more important things," he said indicating the two of them.

"A lot of their potions and such they have to go hunting for out in the woods. If she could remember what she is looking for then her eyesight and ability to fly would be an enormous help with gathering plants and herbs. Concerning her magic, she seems to be able to make things lighter when she holds onto it."

"Her 'hands' too?" indicating the small claws at the final wing joint.

Rone nodded, "More than that," he then turned to the harpy, "Felli? Could you give Master Kal a hug?"

"Only if you promise to do that some more," she said smiling at him and pushing her head into his hand.

Rone nodded and Kal stood as Felli walked over to him. He felt the difference the moment her wings wrapped around his body. The constant pressure that he never noticed on his knees and ankles suddenly disappeared as his body became extremely light, making him feel like he was about to fall over or float away. As she released him he couldn't help but wonder how nice it would have been to have her around when the tree fell on the young man last winter. A quick estimate made him think that with her standing on the log, two or three men could have accomplished the same feat as he had with his strength rune. Kal chuckled as he sat down finding it amusing that natural abilities like Felli's and Gerda's were sometimes so powerful compared to his own. He had spent weeks working on the feather fall rune, that still burned far too much energy, just to make himself lighter while Felli could do the same without any effort just by holding onto him.

Rone gave him a quizzical look, "What's so funny?"

Kal smiled, "Imagine felling a tree for firewood then having Felli stand on it as you put it up on your shoulder and carry the entire tree back to the house."

Rone blinked a few times before looking down at the harpy beside him, "That would be handy, unfortunately, it still doesn't help us. I won't put my in-laws on bad terms with the church any more than they already are, drawing the church's ire can get you killed. I will not take that chance, I'm sorry."

Kal's heart broke for Felli as he saw the deep sadness in her eyes as she looked up at Rone. "I understand," she said slowly nodding, "I have one request: spend the night with me in the nest." She saw the look on his face and hurried on, "You don't have to do anything! You can even keep your clothes on! I just want to spend our last night with your arms around me. Tomorrow, after I've laid my egg and given it to Kal, I will take you home," she said blinking rapidly to fight back the tears as Rone accepted her offer and drew her into his arms.

"Felli," said Kal, "I really didn't do anything, my whole idea was a wash."

She smiled across the table at him, "I know, but you did try to help, and you were nice about it this time. Besides, I can just take a couple of extra rabbits or a small boar and be right back to normal in a couple of days."

Rone's stomach chose that moment to growl, the noise seeming very loud in the stone room. He looked down then gave Felli and Kal a sheepish smile, "Sorry, haven't had breakfast yet."

Kal gave him a questioning look.

"Felli hasn't been out hunting yet, she was doing something with your og… oni earlier instead."

Kal had a sudden idea, "Rone how far away is your farm?"

"A few miles, Felli says she can see it from here, but I can't make anything out but trees," said the man, the harpy next to him making a chirping noise in agreement.

"Is your larder stocked?" Kal said with a smile.

"This will not end well if Marda is at home, we should just wait until Felli brings something back," said Rone, frowning at the kneeling wizard.

"I don't know why, but I'm certain that Marda is in Telsin with her parents right now. I wish I understood how I know this, but I'd just about bet my life that it's true," as Kal made the statement the feeling faded, he chose to not share that with the scowling man. Instead, he focused on cutting two slits with his belt knife just above the bottom hem of his cloak large enough to slip the front half of his boots through.

As Kal was getting his cloak the rest of the way on, backwards, a bleary-eyed Ikuno emerged from the storeroom tunnel.

"I didn't expect to see you up," said Kal. "You've only been asleep for a couple of hours."

"Someone is so excited about going 'flying' that it woke me up," she stifled a yawn then took a good look at the young mage with his modified travel cloak on backwards. "You look like a green flying squirrel."

Rone spoke up, "I told him this wasn't necessary that Felli would go hunting later and I would eat then, however, he seems insistent on getting some breakfast for us all."

Ikuno chuckled and shook her head, "There you would be wrong. This little trip is absolutely necessary, but it has nothing to do with food. It's necessary because Kal has so much fun gliding about last night that he wants to do it again."

Rone looked sharply at Kal, the young wizard gave him a sheepish smile in return, "She's mostly right, although, we are going to get food and bring it back."

Rone's stomach growled again, Kal couldn't hear it over the wind but Ikuno's sharp ears picked it up, "From the sound of your belly I think you'd best be happy with that and not worry about Kal's lack of altruism."

Rone had no clue what all-true-ism was but he agreed that he might need to be more concerned with his empty stomach. While he'd had a larger meal than usual last night with Kal and Ikuno's help, this morning his gut was complaining constantly, and he was starting to get hunger pangs.

Kal waved at Felli who was out enjoying herself, drifting about on the mountain breezes as Kal got ready. Rone flinched away from her flapping wings as she landed right next to him. She quickly snuck her head under his arm to cuddle up against his side. Rone's annoyed expression quickly softened as he gently hugged her to him, the harpy making a contented cooing noise.

"Ready to go?" Kal asked her, holding his mask out from his face. Giving Rone a final nuzzle Felli stepped up behind the wizard, with a small crouch she hopped up onto his shoulders. Her wings pounded the air until she managed to lift them both and start moving forward. The harpy then made her way towards a nearby updraft that would take them nearly to the peak.

As they caught the updraft and began gaining altitude the harpy's cave quickly became an indistinguishable dot on the mountainside. Felli had warned Kal that the updrafts ran up the sides of the mountain, however, Kal was still unprepared for how close they needed to be, at times he was certain she was going to scrape his nose on the rock in front of them. As they neared the peak Felli began pumping her wings again. There was a terrifying moment for Kal as they transitioned between the calmer wind blocked by the mountain and the blustery prevailing winds coming from the west that swirled around the tall peak. Once they rose above the turbulence Felli and Kal glided along for a bit, the harpy using the oncoming wind to rise higher and only needing to beat her wings occasionally. Kal took note that while they were gradually gaining altitude they were also being pushed back east. By his calculations, it wouldn't be long before Telsin would be directly south of them.

The view was breathtaking with the mountain range stretching off into the distance in front of him and massive forests to either side, occasionally cut through by a stream or road. Kal knew at that moment, even if it was that last thing he accomplished as a runesmith, he would finish the flight rune so he could experience this on his own.

After a couple of minutes, Felli banked sharply to the south then leveled out, pumping her wings to gain speed until Kal was nearly prone beneath her. She looked down at Kal and his eyes widened in momentary surprise as she blinked, from the insides of her eyes and without moving her eyelids. Dismissing it as a harpy thing, he nodded back up at her before she let go. The feeling of lightness in his body disappeared as soon as he was free of her talons. He only fell for a moment before spreading out his arms and legs, his cloak catching air almost immediately. After taking a second to adjust, he angled towards the break in the forest to the south that he assumed to be Telsin. A second later the harpy flew in front of him and angled slightly off to the right. Peering ahead of her with his eyes squinted against the wind he could make out a couple of smaller areas that were clear of trees and looked to have fields in them. He guessed that they were his grandparent's old farm with Rone's next to it.

Kal reveled in the feeling of being airborne under his own power, at least as close as he could get for now. He was also pleased with how the addition of the slits for his feet was working, feeling like he had much more control than he did last night. As an added bonus he felt like he was falling slower, though it was hard to be certain since his first experience had been after dark when judging distances is more difficult.

Felli was having a wonderful time, banking into him then popping herself upward as she folded her wings, doing a number of spins as she sailed over the top of him only to catch herself with a flare of her wings on the other side. It had been a very long time since she had been able to fly with someone else. Kal was nowhere near as agile as the harpy in the air but still tried to have some fun, turning sharply only to come careening back into her.

In the last minute or so, before needing to seriously think about braking and landing, he began playing a game of chase with Felli that she got a little too involved in. Each time she flitted to one side or the other Kal would quickly pull up right behind her smiling behind his mask at their little game. Without warning the harpy began gradually slowing, her tail feathers pulled to the side showing him her rear entrance and sex just beneath it. Kal had an odd sense of relief seeing the two openings, a small part of him had been worried that with as much as she looked like a bird, that area would be the same and only have the single entrance/exit as other avians. Felli looked back at Kal with unmistakable lust in her eyes until she noticed who was behind her and flushed bright red with embarrassment before dodging off to the side. Kal chose not to follow this time.

As they came gliding over the treetops into the area of Rone's farmhouse all thoughts of Felli's actions a moment ago fled. Kal dipped down as he cleared the trees then pulled up hard, climbing into the air a bit as his cloak pressed tightly against his arms and legs, slowing him down dramatically. As he stalled in the air his feather fall rune came to life letting him drift down to earth slowly a dozen paces or so away from the four people standing beside two horses in front of the farmhouse, only one of which looked happy to see him. A moment later he was buffeted by air as Felli landed behind him hiding from the other humans behind his larger frame.

Kal took the time they walked towards him to step out of the loops in the bottom of his cloak and turn it back around as well as letting his breathing mask rest around his neck. He felt the harpy behind him grip his cloak and look out timidly at Rone's family.

Perra rushed up to Kal and threw her arms around him as they got close pulling him in for a kiss. As she pulled away she affixed him with a hard stare. "We need to talk," she said in a tone that brooked no argument, then moved back to stand with Master Jurien, Lady Nina, and Marda.

Kal held up his hands as if in surrender, "Felli has already agreed to return Rone tom…"

"We know," interrupted Marda.

Kal sputtered for a moment at the completely unexpected response. "What? How?"

Marda and her parents all looked over at Perra. Seeing their looks, she again stared at Kal, "That's why we need to talk."

"Felli? Come here please," said Marda. The terrified harpy began to move around Kal until he put out a hand stopping her. Marda frowned at him, "I won't hurt her, Master Kal."

"She kidnapped your husband, you have every reason in the world to hate her, forgive me if I don't take you at your word."

"If it suits you better then. I promise no harm will come to her, I only wish ta speak with the girl."

Kal slowly put his arm down and looked down at Felli.

"She's Rone's wife?" she asked. Kal nodded.

Felli stepped out from around Kal and took a tentative step forward. With her next step, her shoulders shook with a sob. Midway between Kal and Marda, the harpy dropped to her knees, "I'M SORRYYY!" she wailed as she covered her face with her wings. "I was so lonely! And I wanted a chick so bad! I didn't know he had a wife and you're so pretty, no wonder he wants to come back to you. Once he was there I just couldn't let him go even if he wouldn't sleep with me. Please forgive me!"

Kal and the rest of the humans just stared at the sobbing girl. He had half expected a reaction like with Ikuno, certainly not this. Perra was glaring at him like he was somehow responsible for the harpy's current state.

Marda was actually the first to recover from her shock and knelt down next to Felli, "Hush dear we know ya were going to bring him back." Marda drew the harpy into a hug, "and we know how much it hurt ya to let him go."

Kal snapped a questioning look at Perra who just mouthed the word 'later' before her attention returned to the two kneeling on the ground.

"We were thinking of a way ta make everyone happy, however, we need to have Rone here to discuss it. Would ya please bring him back home?"

Felli sniffed, "he was going to sleep with me tonight too," she said sadly.

Marda drew back with a scowl.

Kal piped in, "Clothes on, no funny business. She just wanted a cuddle before she brought him back." Kal quickly sifted through their conversations for any other pitfalls that might unintentionally damage the positive direction this seemed to be going. Thankfully he came up empty.

Marda appeared to accept his explanation and turned back to Felli, "Bring Rone home please."

"Yes ma'am," said Felli, still looking downhearted. She stood and turned towards the distant mountain peak. Kal stepped out of her way as she spread her wings and jumped into the air, pumping hard to gain elevation and speed.

"I don't like this," said Master Jurien, "Elta's going ta have fits if she finds out she has a bird for a niece. She may bring da Order down on our heads."

"Not if she doesn't find out, father," Marda said as she watched the harpy disappear off into the distance. "Besides I don't think you are giving her enough credit, she was raised by you, same as I was."

"You were smart enough ta not go running off after some passing cleric either," said Nina. "One who would forget you exist as soon as he walked into da capitol an' didn't need what was between your legs anymore."

"No, instead I met a man who seems to have had a harpy fall in love with him. If I know my husband, he must have fallen in love with her at least a little bit if he were to agree to a night with her, even if it's just 'cuddling,'" replied Marda, looking to Kal for confirmation.

Kal shrugged, "Love? I'm not sure about that. What I can tell you is that he has come to care about her over the last few days. I'm partially at fault for that." Kal proceeded to tell them about Rone's reaction to how harpies eat eggs that aren't viable as well as the explanation of why they do that. "Before that," he continued, "Rone just saw Felli as a monster."

"I can't blame him," said Jurien, "I'd likely see her da same way if you hadn't just explained it ta me." The three women next to him nodded in agreement.

"Do you mind me asking what brought all of this about?" asked Kal. Looking over at Marda he said, "I thought you might come around eventually, but I must say you are taking this far better than I expected, as are you two," he said indicating Jurien and Nina.

All three of them looked over at Perra who blushed slightly under their gaze. "It might have had ta do with Lady Perra starting to cry and telling us da harpy was bringing him back, though it was breaking the poor thing's heart ta do it," said Marda.

Kal looked over at her, "How on earth did you know that?"

Perra sighed, "It seems like I've been able to feel your stronger emotions over the last few days." She tugged the neckline of her dress down to reveal her pendant, "Your mother thinks it might have something to do with this."

While Perra and the others' presence there at the farm, along with her reaction to something that was happening to him far away, was really evidence enough that she was telling the truth, Kal couldn't help but be a bit skeptical and his face showed it.

"Fine," said Perra in a huff, "If you don't believe me then just think of something you feel strongly about and see if I can't tell what it is."

Kal gave her a mischievous smile and closed his eyes. He imagined the morning before he left and when she offered her bottom to him if he came back safe. He then changed the image so after he finished teasing her with his tongue he stood up and placed his hard cock at her back entrance and slowly started pushing forward flooding her body with pleasure.

"KAL! STOP IT!" she yelled, gasping. Perra's face burned with a mixture of embarrassment and desire as her hands went to her backside checking to see that there wasn't actually something about to penetrate her back there.

Jurien chuckled, "Oh ho! A man after my own tastes," he said winking at Kal. A moment later Nina backhanded him across the shoulder, which only caused him to laugh harder. Marda rolled her eyes at her parent's antics, even so, Kal thought he could see a faint blush in her cheeks as well.

Across his bonds with Ikuno, Bea, and Aradelle he got the equivalent of 'Woo Hoo!' whereas Gerda's response was more one of curiosity. He sent back that he was just trying something and that wasn't actually happening only to get three 'Awww's of disappointment. Gerda, on the other hand, still seemed curious.

Perra stared at him intently, "Was that the girls?" Kal nodded.

"Girls?" asked Marda.

Perra looked over at her, "You think sharing with one harpy is bad?" she held up her hand with four fingers extended.

"Four women?" asked Marda looking at Kal with surprise.

"Four others. Five, if you include Perra."

Marda and Nina were both giving him a look of appraisal while Jurien's expression was a mix of being impressed and pity. "Five women," said the apothecary, "I do my best ta keep up with one."

Marda cleared her throat, "Two."

Jurien and Nina both stared wide-eyed at their daughter.

"Oh, come off it, you two. Your liking of Kahrin's arse is well enough known about town, father. Mother, you seem ta forget ta be quiet when Kahrin comes to get her gondas weed. Plenty of people have walked by the shop and heard you three in there, only to see Kahrin walk out a bit later. Did you never think to have her stop by later that night?"

Jurien gawped at his daughter's remarks while Nina snorted, "Says the woman who is likely ta end up with that bird's head between her legs as her husband has a go at the other end."

"Maybe I will," Marda snapped back, "it obviously runs in the blood…" the woman squeaked in surprise at her own words, "I mean… oh, hells." The other four laughed quietly as Marda's face turned bright red from her accidental admission.

Kal quietly thought to himself this situation couldn't be going better for Rone and the harpy and got a feeling of agreement coming from Perra's direction. He looked over at her and simply nodded. "It works both ways, does it? This must explain my sudden urge yesterday to get some feathers from Felli, so I could give them to Nina."

"Did you happen ta bring some?" asked the potion and salve maker with hope in her eyes.

"Sorry, no. I wasn't expecting you to be here. In fact, I was certain you were all back in town at your store just before Felli and I left," he looked over at Perra. "I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"

Perra nodded, "When I got the feeling you were coming here I let them know. Thankfully we had both the horses ready to go. Yesterday I let them know Rone was alive and have been giving them updates on him as much as I could. Marda rode out to the house this morning and woke me up, wanting to know if anything had changed. By the way, I have a bone to pick with Ikuno about her means of waking you up. I don't need to be having dreams about body parts that I don't have and prefer in me instead of on me." In her annoyance, she had forgotten about the other members of her audience until the other three started laughing. Trying her best to ignore them she soldiered on, "As it was, I saddled up Bonn and rode back with her. When you decided to fly back with Felli they closed up shop and we raced you here. Just to let you know, you look like a green flying squirrel."

Kal grinned, "Ikuno said something along those lines before I left." Kal's face fell, "Dammit, we need to make Felli understand she can't speak of Ikuno."

"One of your women, I'm assuming?" asked Jurien.

"Yes, and there's some kind of history between her and my mother that she is absolutely insistent my mother know nothing more than her name. It's so frustrating too, it feels like I have all of the pieces to that puzzle in front of me, I just can't figure out how it all goes together. Anyway, since Felli has seen her she needs to know she can't tell anyone of what Ikuno looks like. Speaking of which they should be here soon, if I'm correct about what Ikuno just sent me they left a couple of minutes ago."

"Sent you?" asked Marda.

"It's a magical bonding, I can get strong impressions and thoughts directed at me. I'd tell you more but the rules seem to change, as such, I'm still trying to figure it out."

Perra came over and took Kal's hand, "Speaking of which, I need to talk with you alone," she said dragging him away from the others. Once she was sure the others couldn't hear her she turned to him, "Kal, your mother had another idea about the necklace that I didn't want to bring up in front of them. She thought it might be possible that I could have the same kind of bond with you as the others do."

Kal was a little shocked, the thought had never occurred to him because to anyone's knowledge it wasn't even possible. "And you want this?" he asked.

"I won't lie Kal, the thought scares me. Giving myself to you the way that Ikuno explained it is a big step, even then, there's the possibility it won't work. To answer your question, yes, I do want this. I want what all the rest of the girls have with you so I can stop feeling left out and stop being jealous of them."

"You're jealous?"

Perra looked down and nodded, "They have that connection with you that I don't. It's why I haven't gone to see any of them with you since my birthday. Before I was outside the whole situation, now I just feel like an outsider. Mom managed to drag that out of me last night as well."

Kal chuckled, "She's annoyingly good at that. Did you want to try this now?"

Kal received a resounding 'No!' from Ikuno loud enough to bleed through and make Perra's breath catch and tears form in her eyes at the rejection. A moment later the oni sent him an image of him and Perra standing in front of Aradelle with Ikuno on one side and Bea on the other. Gerda's image flickered next to Ikuno's, probably because of the low likelihood of her coming to such a gathering. Kal held the image and amplified it before pushing it towards Perra.

The young woman's visage went from tearful to glowing as she saw what Ikuno had planned, "Okay, I can wait," she said smiling.

"I think they are coming back!" yelled Marda from over by the farmhouse.

"Speaking of not waiting, I can't wait until you make love to me again," Perra said in a conspiratorial whisper then tapped her pendant and gave Kal a hungry grin as they walked back.

Perra broke off and went to stand next to Rone's family while Kal took up a position across from them like before. They all watched as Felli gently set Rone down just behind Kal. Admittedly he looked a bit silly wrapped in all of the extra furs needed for being up in Felli's home.

The moment Felli let go Rone and Marda ran to each other and came together in a teary embrace. The harpy landed as and stepped up beside Kal, he looked down and saw tears in her eyes.

Felli noticed and looked up at him, "I'm sorry," she said. Then looking over at Rone's family, "I'm sorry!" she sobbed. Casting a final glance at Rone and Marda she sobbed again then turned and with a couple of bounding steps launched herself in the air.

"Kal! Stop her!" yelled Perra pointing at the fleeing harpy. Strength and speed runes lit up on his vambraces as Kal darted after Felli. The harpy was gaining altitude quickly and the tree line was just ahead of him, he would only get one chance. Leaping into the air Kal barely managed to grab hold of one of her legs, the extra weight on one side pulling her off course and back over one of the fields. Kal also discovered that the harpy only needed to touch something to impart the lightness effect as he felt it run through his body and Felli began climbing again. Without his weight to pull her down Kal reached out with his other hand and tried to anchor himself to the ground, only succeeding in pulling up a small plug of dirt from the field below.

Remembering what he did when he caught Bea, he pulled Felli down and wrapped an arm around her neck like he was hugging her then used his other hand catch her wing and press it to her side. His feather fall rune lit up and they began drifting slowly downward.

"Let me go, Kal!" Felli wailed before tucking her other wing and crying into his shirt. "You saw how happy he was to see her. He doesn't need me getting in the way."

Kal bit back a comment about finally remembering his name and said, "You may be right that they don't need you, but I think there's a good possibility that they want you." Behind him, he heard the thudding of feet on the field's loose soil as they gently came to rest on the ground.

Marda was the first to reach them and with a look at Kal pulled Felli away and into her own embrace. The harpy looked up from between the woman's ample breasts with a chirp of surprise, having expected this from Rone and not his wife. Marda waved her husband over and soon had Felli pinned in a three-way hug, the two humans whispering soft words of caring and support towards the distraught harpy.

Kal stepped over to stand beside Perra and she slipped an arm around his waist as Jurien and Nina arrived, the older couple deciding to leave the running to the younger generation.

"I must say, that was impressive Master Kal," said the apothecary looking at his daughter and son-in-law huddled with the harpy a few steps away.

"What's that?" Kal asked as he casually ran his hand up and down Perra's back.

"I've heard of your exploits but never actually seen ya use magic before now."

Kal smiled, strangely pleased to have managed to impress the older man, "I don't think I ever got a straight answer earlier. What happened to change everyone's mind about Felli?"

"Your mother was never a fan of the church and their dislike of magic," Nina answered, "I guess it's no surprise ya weren't raised having the idea that monster girls were soulless heathens out ta either enslave or devour human men."

"Not that I wasn't exposed to that kind of talk growing up. You are correct that mother warned me away from them but never made them out to be the horrible soul-sucking things the townsfolk spoke of."

"I think yesterday when Lady Perra told us that the harpy hadn't forced herself on him and was making sure he was fed and warmly clothed. It started making us question what we had been taught. Her breaking down on us earlier and telling us that Felli was bringing Rone back flew in the face of everything we had ever known about monster girls. Jurien and I talked on the way out here as did Marda and Perra; by the time we arrived it seemed like we had all come ta the same conclusion that this could be a good thing for the family. Marda was a bit more enthusiastic about the idea than we were but your lady there seems ta have a way of getting others ta see things her way."

Jurien put on a pained expression and leaned over to Kal, "Nina wouldn't let me ride with Perra on the way here."

"Lecherous old coot!" she yelled punching him in the shoulder, "Right good thing I didn't either! You were hard as stone by the time we got here just from my old arse rubbing on ya, if you'd ridden with Lady Perra ya would have had a mess in your trousers."

"You're right, Nina dear. You may have saved me a painful death at the hands of our wizard friend, how shall I ever thank you?" Jurien said with a big smile.

Nina winked at Perra then turned back to her husband, "All this talk of the youngsters getting frisky has got me going a bit, how about you giving me a ride as we head back into town."

Unexpectedly Jurien cringed, "Last time you about crushed my jewels against the saddle. How about waiting till we get back to the shop, just open up a bit later."

"Oh, no. Not after what Marda said earlier. Either on the way back ta town or later tonight at home. I'm not having people listening in on us anymore."

Jurien gave his wife a lecherous grin and wiggled his eyebrows, "I bet I can change your mind in a week."

Lady Nina huffed and crossed her arms but Kal and Perra noted that she didn't deny Master Jurien's challenge.

"You two realize that is my horse and my saddle you are going to be riding on," said Marda. "I'd rather not have ta think about having my mother's juice or my father's jizz on it when I come to pick it up later." They were done with their conversation and stood there with Rone in the middle with an arm around Marda and Felli on either side. Felli's petite stature compared to Marda's made the harpy look almost childlike despite being fully grown, then again, she did take after one of the smaller raptors.

"It looks like you have come to a decision?" asked Master Jurien and ignoring his daughter's comment.

"We have," said Marda, Rone nodding a moment later.

"And you are comfortable with making this official even though you won't be able to tell the townsfolk about it?" Kal was a little taken aback by Master Jurien's sudden change in demeanor from the man playfully teasing his wife a moment ago to the stern and official manner expected from one of the town's council.

"We are," said Marda with Rone repeating the phrase a moment later.

Master Jurien turned to the harpy, "Felli, so I know ya understand please repeat back ta me what they offered you and what the restrictions are."

Felli looked up at the apothecary, seeming as uncomfortable with Jurien's change in manner as Kal was, but understanding that this was something very important for the humans. "They are offering me a place in their family and the opportunity to have a chick, in return I will help out however I can at Rone's farm. If someone comes by I need to hide or fly away because other people may not understand and try to hurt me or even Rone and Marda. I can't go into town with them yet and I can't talk about Kal's friend."

Jurien smiled, "Good enough, unless anyone has any last words ta say…? So be it. I, Master Jurien the Apothecary, recognize this union."

Kal brought his hands up to clap for the new trio but no one else was doing the same. Instead, they were all staring at him. "Umm… Why is everyone looking at me?" he asked anxiously.

Jurien threw his head back and guffawed, "Leave it to a wizard to be the last to know! Ellis started calling you 'Master' and it stuck, easy enough since you were the only wizard in town. After ya lifted the tree off the boy the council made your Master title official. Some of us thought it might go to your head and didn't want to let you know until necessary, myself and Ellis were both one of those. No offense intended but we've had a couple younger 'masters' get too big for their britches after being recognized." Jurien clapped Kal on the shoulder, "See now why everyone is staring at ya?"

Kal was more than a little stunned by the news. He immediately thought of some possible issues to discuss with Jurien later, however, right now there were two people and a harpy waiting on him.

"I… I, Master Kal the Runesmith, recognize this union," he stated with a questioning look at Jurien. The older man just smiled and nodded back at him.

"Felli are you okay?" asked Perra from next to him.

Felli nodded enthusiastically, a huge grin on her face even though tears streamed down her cheeks, "I have a family. I'm going to have a chick one day and she's going to have a family too. I'm so happy I… I…" The harpy's wings flipped out and she launched herself high into the air before spinning and cavorting above their heads, letting out occasional bird-like screeches that the humans had to assume were of happiness.

Kal explained to everyone else that most monster girls were usually only raised by their mothers, some not even that, so having an actual family was a rarity.

Marda and Rone were standing with their arms around each other watching the harpy play high above them. Marda sniffed, smelling something sour and followed it back to her husband, "You stink! You need a bath, now."

Rone looked sheepish, "There's some kind of magic bath or shower back at Felli's nest but I never figured out how to use it."

Marda looked incredulous, "Felli has a magic shower?"

Kal stepped in, "Not Felli, the original builders of Felli's cave made it." He turned to Rone, "I never saw a bath while we were there."

"It's back by her nest, on the same wall as the entrance to the room. The stonemasons did something that you can only really see it when you are looking at it straight on. You should look at it, there's a bunch of symbols, kind of like the ones on your arms, that I couldn't make work."

Rone stepped a few paces away from the group, "Felli!" he called, Kal could tell she heard the man because she immediately stopped playing and glided along with her head tilted to the side. "Felli, could you take me to the house?" he called. The harpy flipped around and flew behind Rone as he held his arms out, he was buffeted by air from her wings for a moment before her clawed feet closed on his upper arms. Felli lifted him into the air then quickly made her way over to the farmhouse where she set him down.

The harpy flew over and very carefully landed on Kal's shoulders, he immediately felt his body become lighter. Leaning over she looked at him upside down, "I hope you don't mind Kal, it hurts my feet to walk on the ground for so long."

"Umm… sure, no problem."

She looked out at the others smiling, "Anyone else?"

Rone changed into lighter clothing, after complaining about sweating to death in the heavy furs Felli had given him, and went out to take care of the livestock as his bath water heated up. Felli joined him to see what kinds of things she could help with. Meanwhile, the women ran Kal and Jurien out of the house, so they could put something together for lunch as well as a large meal for Ikuno and another for the oni, Kal, Rone and Felli when they went back to the harpy's cave later.

Kal was surprised to hear that Rone was coming back with them.

"Felli's agreed to wait on her baby so it will be born after ours is," said Marda, "much as I would like to have Rone here with me tonight I think she deserves something special for waiting so long. Besides, it's her first night in our family, she shouldn't spend it alone in her nest."

Kal was about to mention that she could invite Felli to sleep in the house but decided against it, Marda would make that offer when she was ready.

He and Jurien sat out on the front step enjoying a couple of tankards of ale after Rone informed them he wanted to take care of things around the farm by himself, after the last few days he wanted something 'normal' to do.

"As you know already you can officiate weddings," explained Jurien when Kal asked what exactly being a 'recognized' or 'official' master of the town meant. "You can also witness transfers of ownership either by sale or to an heir, either way, you and the other witness are responsible for collecting the King's taxes and handing them over to the council so they can be taken to the capitol at the end of the year. People look at you like you're stealing their money, I avoid it if I can. If someone wants to declare an heir, either if they don't have a living son for it to go to or if they want it to go to someone besides their firstborn you can witness that to make it official. Last you can be appointed to the council if the opportunity arises.

"If I'm not mistaken Ellis has already tapped you to take his spot should he pass away. Poor Ada, I think this sickness of his is harder on her than it is on Ellis, she's been trying to give him an heir ever since he fell ill this last time, but nothing has taken yet. Ellis doesn't think it will, says he got sick as a kid in whatever godforsaken city he was born in and it messed him up badly. The man's been sick more than anyone in the town.

"Speaking of bad news, I may need your help with something, Kal. Ellis wants to give the Inn over to Kahrin and Bren when he passes on. The other town masters will grudgingly accept Kahrin, probably since every one of them has had his cock in her at some point, present company included." Jurien lifted his mug and Kal tapped his own against it with a knowing smile. "The problem is Bren, the other masters won't accept a giant-kin as an owner in town."

Kal about spit out his ale, "Giant-kin?"

"Aye, his grandmother was half-giant."

"Wait… everything I have read and learned about monster girls says that a giant mating with a man only produces another giant and never a male."

"True, that's what I've heard too, but I've no reason to doubt the man. If it isn't the truth, Bren doesn't know it. Back to the problem at hand, if you and I act as witnesses then the rest of the council will have to accept the transfer of ownership. It may not make you to popular when you take Ellis's spot on the council but they've no reason to deny you."

Kal sipped his ale before responding, "I don't think it will work out having me on the council anyway. I'm coming to the end of what I can learn here, I plan on leaving for a few years and finding other texts and mages to learn from."

"Are you planning to take Lady Perra with you?"

Kal thought for a long time before answering, "No. As much as I want to, I keep getting reminded that out in the bigger world, I'm just not that powerful. If something happens to me then it's on my head. If something happened to her, I don't know if I could live with myself."

Jurien chuckled, "You're a wiser man than most of your peers then, most young men would bring their woman into danger just for the sake of keeping their dick wet. I'm just as guilty as any, luckily Nina forgave me and married me anyway.

"We keep getting off track. If Perra is staying behind then it will be fine as long as you aren't gone for more than a couple of years at a time. All of the council have other professions that take them away from Telsin occasionally, when you become a council member you must pick a second or proxy to state your wishes and vote on the council at times when you are traveling. Thankfully the grumpy old men on the council are not as picky about proxies as full members and don't object to having women. Nina is mine, Lady Perra can be yours."

Kal set his tankard down and put his head in his hands, "Too much. Too much, too fast. I started this day just trying to find a way to make Rone and Felli happy and get some breakfast for the man. Now I'm an official master of the town and have to think about possibly becoming a council member." He put his hands down, "Aren't I a bit young to be on the council?"

"Normally, yes. What you may not realize Kal is that between running off those three thugs; saving Kahrin, her sister, and her niece; rescuing the boy from the tree; all of the people whose lives you made better by taking away their aches and pains, some of whom are on the council mind you; charging coppers for what would cost silvers in the capitol and not killing the man who tried to lay hands on Lady Perra the other night, you have proven yourself many times over, all while not letting the title of 'Master' go to your head. The fact that you are weighing this and not just champing at the bit for the extra status and power says to me that Ellis and the council have made a good choice in you."

"The next part of this journey starts tomorrow once I have Felli's egg," Kal stopped for a moment, "that was easier to think about before yesterday when it was just 'the harpy's' egg. Even though I know it will never hatch now I feel like a bad person for taking it." Kal shook his head to clear those thoughts, "The next part will hopefully go a bit quicker. With luck, I will be mentally prepared for all of this by the time I get back."

"You have some time, Kal. Ellis is in rough shape, but he still has a few weeks or even months left in him before you need to worry about it. I blame it on Ada, who would want to go to the great beyond when you have that pretty little thing draining your balls twice a day." The door behind them had opened about the time he mentioned Ada, Jurien looked back to see his wife standing there, "Bloody hell," he said hanging his head.

"Bloody hell is right ya dirty old man! Go get Rone. He should be done with his bath about now, then get your arse in here and get something to eat."

"Yes, dear," said Master Jurien as he slowly stood up. The apothecary handed his mug to Kal before heading around the back of the house to where the large washtub was.

Ikuno quietly crept into the attendant's quarters, she knew they were empty since she was still the only one there. The caution was unintentional as much as unneeded, she just didn't feel comfortable invading Felli's living area while she wasn't there. Still, a small bit of curiosity about something she felt over the bond was getting to her.

She moved over by Felli's nest and, sure enough, there was an opening on the front wall. She didn't think the hidden entrance was magical in nature just some very clever stonework. As she stepped inside the crystals set into the ceiling began to glow much as they did in the storeroom. She smiled as she beheld the large stone bathtub along the back wall, large and deep enough for her and a couple of others to sit comfortably. Just above the rim of the tub was a rectangular hole that water came out of to fill the tub. About neck height for her was an oddly shaped spout coming out of the wall, her guess was the shape was to spread out the water as it came off the end. Much like her own cubby, the toilet was little more than a hole in the ground with a stream of water running beneath it. There was also a small sink with another spout just above it.

Engraved into the wall just above the spout were four runes, two matching sets were next to the tub, one for each water source. Though very different from the runes she knew, there were enough similarities that she recognized: hot, warm, cold, and stop. Tapping the rune did nothing, but feeding it a small amount of magic made the rune glow and a few seconds later foul-smelling black gunk slogged its way out of the spout. Ikuno stepped to the side in case it decided to spray out everywhere once it cleared out the sludge. Thankfully there was only a small pop as the clean water broke through and most of the black gunk that went airborne fell back into the sink.

Ikuno repeated the process with the other two water spouts, in doing so finding two more runes that opened and closed the drain as well as one that sent a small rush of water through the toilet. In some of the more advanced and opulent cities, she had seen similar things done mechanically, however, this was the first time she had seen it all done with magic. Then again, none of those were connected to an unlimited supply of energy directly below them.

After she got everything cleaned up she looked at the bathtub and started stripping, "If everyone is going to enjoy themselves with a nice lunch while I'm stuck with rations. I'm going to enjoy a nice hot soak," she said, smiling as water started filling the tub.

Felli asked why Kal hadn't taken Perra's food like he had Ikuno's.

Perra waved it off, "He was just reminding her that she belongs to him, don't worry I'm sure she enjoyed every second." Kal noted that for a moment Marda was eyeing up Rone and Felli's plates then looked at her parents before deciding not to do anything. It wasn't hard to tell how the family dynamic of the triad would turn out.

"Speaking of Ikuno, it seems like she has figured out how to use your restroom," said Kal as everyone was finishing up with their lunch, except Felli, she had stopped eating earlier with concerns it might make her too heavy for the flights back.

Rone perked up, "Really?"

"Apparently you need to have a little bit of magic ability to activate them, or one of these," said Kal slipping the crystal out of his vambrace and handing it to the man. "That one is nearly flawless so it will continue to charge, just very slowly. You shouldn't run it out just activating the runes in the bathroom."

Nina stared at Kal wide-eyed, "He can't afford that, Kal. Especially just for being able to use a bathroom."

"How much is it worth?" asked Marda while Rone quickly set the crystal on the table like it was about to bite him.

"Best guess it's worth more than your farm. However, I don't want you to think of it as something you have to buy from me. I'd rather you think of it as a down payment."

"For what?" asked Rone.

"Felli's cave," said Kal nodding towards the harpy.

"You want to buy her cave?"

"Yes, and I'm willing to pay well for it, I have a large, almost flawless amethyst that I think should take care of the rest" Kal held up his hands at the approximate size and everyone but Perra and Felli stared in disbelief, Perra having seen the gem and Felli not having any reference for its importance.

"Does this mean I would have to find a new nest?" asked the harpy.

"Absolutely not. You are welcome to stay as long as you want. In fact, I would like to hire you as a caretaker until the time I'm ready to actually do something with it. In that time I'd like you to get the storeroom cleaned out and perhaps start working on cleaning up the centuries of dust in the other chambers, when you aren't helping Marda and Rone that is."

"Why would you be interested in a harpy's cave? And willing to pay so much for it?" asked Jurien.

Kal gave a quick rundown of the caverns' dimensions, getting another round of shocked looks. "My plan is for a neutral ground for humans and non-predator monster girls to live together without persecution. The limited area we have to work with should keep the King from considering such a town too much of a threat and if the church has issues with it they have to get up there first if they want to attack. It may turn out to be the fanciful dream of a young man, but I want to keep my options open in case I can make it a reality."

Jurien chuckled, "Boy, you are full of surprises."

Kal and Perra watched as Felli carried Rone off into the distance clutching the oiled leather sack that held tonight's supper. They heard Marda swear next to them and turned to see her glaring at something back by the road. Looking in that direction they saw the apothecary and his wife had stopped their horse just before they got to the road. Nina had bunched up her dress against her back and slowly sliding back into Jurien while leaning forward a bit in the saddle. The look on both of their faces made it easy to tell what was happening.

Marda gave Kal and Perra a quick wave goodbye before striding back to the house grumbling about cleaning saddles.

Once they were alone Perra turned to Kal, "That shouldn't have happened, Kal."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Any of this! Yesterday Marda was livid that you might suggest sharing Rone with Felli. Now here she is inviting the harpy into her family. If it had happened over a couple of weeks I could possibly understand it, but not after only a day."

Kal ran his hand over her pendant, "Trust, intuition, sharpness of the mind, business savvy, all of these things and more are believed to be traits imparted by amethyst on the wearer. Perhaps you had help convincing them? After all, they could have just as easily thought you were faking when Felli agreed to bring Rone home and broke down in tears because of how sad it made her."

Perra looked down, "You're right, they didn't even question me. Even when I told them Rone was alive Nina passed it off like it was the absolute truth. Somehow this doesn't make me feel better."

"That's because you think you manipulated them. I would say that if the pendant helped, it only sped things up. The potential for this happening over a longer time was already there, you said so yourself."

"I suppose you're right," she said giving him a wan smile, "thanks for making me feel better."

Kal put his back to the farmhouse then put Perra's back against his chest, "I know of some other ways to make you feel better," he whispered in her ear as he began pulling up her dress by the handful.

Perra groaned in disappointment and irritation as she put her hand on his arm, stopping him. "No, Kal," she said, "Much as I want to let you, not today or tomorrow and possibly a couple of days after that. It started as we were making lunch. My breasts were a little sensitive this morning but with Marda showing up and distracting me I didn't really think about what it meant. If I'd realized, I wouldn't have said that earlier."

"Oh," he said in understanding. As they waited for Felli to come back, Kal brought his hands up and gently massaged her tender breasts and belly, making the girl moan in appreciation. All too soon for Perra, Felli arrived. After giving Kal a tender kiss as thanks she said goodbye to the harpy just before they rose up into the air and started making their way back to Felli's cave.

Perra stood there for a moment rubbing her stomach and secretly wishing she had 'forgotten' to eat her gondas weed a couple of weeks ago. Sighing she made her way over to where Bonn was standing, the horse waiting patiently to take her home.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Felli took Kal high into the air and let him go, allowing Kal to glide along with her most of the way back to the mountain. Then, according to their plan, the harpy hauled him up into the sky and released him again, so he could make the approach to the cave on his own. There was tense moment when he sailed into the turbulence created as air struck the windward side of the peak and pushed its way around. After a couple of seconds of being knocked about, Kal entered the much calmer area directly behind the mountain.

Kal's only mishap was as he pulled up to check his speed, he ended up gaining more altitude than expected and bumped into the rock face just above the cave instead of landing gracefully inside it. Thankfully he was going much slower than the first time and his arms were more than enough to absorb the impact. Pushing himself away from the wall, the feather fall rune let him drift slowly to the ledge below. Ikuno stepped over to him as he landed, looking sparkling clean from her recent bath.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself a little too much doing that," she said, smiling. "Do I need to worry about you running off with one of Felli's relatives?"

Kal had pulled his mask off as he floated down to the stone outcropping. He then got his cloak turned about and situated on his back before replying. "You don't have anything to worry about until I get that flight rune figured out. Until then this will have to be a fun thing to do when I come up here to visit."

"I'm guessing you plan on visiting fairly often on now that you are going to buy the place. What happened to 'I'm not planning on doing it tomorrow or anything'?"

Kal shrugged, "In my defense, I didn't plan on it but the opportunity presented itself. So…"

"Now you are the owner of a roc hatchling's cave. What next?" she asked as they made their way towards Felli's home.

"Next is taking a look at the runes on the cookstove and in the bathroom. I also may make use of the bath myself after I'm done." Kal had dressed warmly for the journey but exploring the heated larger caverns and his trip to the farm had made him overdressed for the higher temperatures. As a result, he was starting to feel a bit ripe from sweating.

The cooktop turned out to be based on a flow control. There appeared to be a rune under the surface that provided the heat with the runes on the side determining how much energy went to it. Kal followed a third line of magic to a spot just behind the stone of the wall a short distance away from the stove but couldn't make out its purpose. Since the cooktop was always active as a heater just touching the runes on the side was enough to switch it from warming the room to hot enough to cook on without introducing extra power like those in the bathroom. He also took note of the conical depression in the ceiling with a hole in it that acted as a vent for whatever was being cooked.

The water controls in the bathroom were a bit more interesting in how they were all set up identical to one another. In each case, the magic that came from below split off to each of the four runes. The "cold" rune sent out a single line of magic that started the water flowing. "Warm" activated "cold" along with another line of magic that Kal assumed turned on some sort of water heater and "hot" activated the other two as well as another heater slightly offset from the first. "Off" cut the flow of magic to any and all of them. Kal made copies of each one as Ikuno looked over his shoulder.

"You know," she said, "I have a waterfall that is just begging for a runesmith and a certain golem to turn it into a proper shower and bath, think you could make this work somewhere else?"

"Absolutely, all we need is a material that we can set into the walls behind the runes and can conduct the magic to where it needs to go. The main difference will be that yours won't be powered by a cave down below, so you'll have to insert a charged crystal somewhere to power the system. It will take a bit of planning but shouldn't be too difficult. If I can modify the spell you use to warm the waterfall now, it should be even easier."

"I'm looking forward to it already," she said with a grin and began undoing the leather straps to her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Kal hissed in a whisper.

"Oh! You're right," holding her clothes in place over her breasts and groin Ikuno snuck around the thin privacy wall and poked her head out the entrance to the bath to find Rone and Felli cuddling together in her nest. Felli had built it in the shape of a large oval with the back partly up on the wall. Rone was taking advantage of that and sitting in it like it was a large deep couch with his legs hanging out the front. The adoring harpy had curled up under his arm to one side. "Kal wants to try out the bath and shower and I'm going to join him. Just ignore any strange sounds you hear." She looked at Felli, "and if he can't then maybe you can try out some of your lessons from this morning. Rone's still young enough he should be ready to go again later too," the oni said with a wink.

As Ikuno disappeared around the corner Rone grumbled, "I was hoping to be the first to do that."

The oni's head appeared as she leaned over behind the doorway, unwittingly showing off one of her large blue breasts with its dark nipple that was noticeably hard already. "Sorry," she said with a smile, scooting back behind the doorway when she noticed neither one was looking at her face. "Call it a service charge for getting it all cleaned up and working for you."

Ikuno stepped back in with her clothes in one hand. As she put them into one of the small cubbies that were carved into the wall, Kal asked her, "Are you so certain that I'm going to fuck you in the shower?"

"Nope," she said with a sultry smile, "but I'm certainly hoping you will." She turned away from him and bent over putting one hand on the side of the tub. She brought her other hand back and ran her fingers through her folds that were already slick with her juices then moved her hand up a bit and dipped those same fingers into her rear. "You haven't taken me back here in a while, I've been missing the feeling of you in my ass."

It took every ounce of Kal's willpower to not jump up and take care of that oversight immediately. However, he saw an opportunity for a little bit of playful payback for this morning. "I still need to figure out exactly how the water is heated in this system as well as how the toilet flushes. I think you should sit on the side of the tub and play with yourself until I'm ready. Legs spread so I can enjoy the view and don't cum."

Kal could see Ikuno's mind working for some way to get out of what he asked. After a few long seconds, she either couldn't come up with anything or decided whatever he planned might be fun. The oni sat down on the back edge of the bath with her back against the wall, quickly casting the spell that dulled her claws.

Kal went back to studying how the bathroom's magic worked but kept having his attention drawn to the large blue woman as her hands first ran over her entire body, avoiding her sex but paying extra attention to her breasts. He heard a small gasp and looked over to see her harshly pinching and pulling at her nipples. Her head was tilted back with her eyes closed and mouth slightly open. Slowly one hand slid down her flat stomach and began lightly teasing the lips of her sex as the other continued to rub her breasts.

Kal realized with a bit of surprise that this was the first time he had ever really watched Ikuno masturbate and was shocked at how turned on he was by it. His prick was already painfully hard and part of him wanted nothing more than to strip and slide his throbbing cock into her dripping pussy or tight ass. Instead, he found himself entranced by the oni's display as she switched from lightly brushing her fingers over her lips to running them along her inner thigh only to come back and touch her sex for a few moments before moving off to another part of her body.

Kal gave up on trying to figure anything out with the runes, he was far too distracted by the beautiful woman in front of him playing with herself. He quickly found himself sitting on the stone floor across from her squeezing his prick through his trousers. He had thought about pulling it out and stroking himself as he watched but didn't trust himself to keep his hands off of, or his dick out of, the oni if he did that, not that she would have minded.

Ikuno began playing with her pussy in earnest, letting out low moans with each breath. With her eyes still closed she started rubbing up and down the entire length of her sex. Every so often she would sneak a finger or two down to tease her back door for a moment, her entire body jerking with pleasure each time.

The privacy wall at the bathroom's entrance did a good job of blocking out noises from inside but Ikuno's low passionate moans seemed to easily sneak past and into the ears of the two sitting in the nest. Rone and Felli had only listened for a couple of minutes before Felli got up and straddled Rone's waist. As their mouths came together Rone brought his hands up to the harpy's breasts and felt them swell under his hands, the hard tips of her nipples pushing into his palms as they quickly grew larger. Rone pulled back in amazement as Felli had gone from nearly flat-chested to only slightly smaller than Marda if he took into account her much smaller frame.

Felli gave him a worried look, "Don't you like them?"

"I think they're amazing," said Rone, his expression matching his words. "How?"

"They go away if I fly, which is good because they make flying harder," she let out a small moan as Rone ran a thumb over her nipple, "but come back when you touch them." They were also very sensitive as Rone could tell from the sharp increase in heat where she was sitting on him. After a short time of playing with her now ample bosom, she mashed her mouth against his again, her tongue dueling with his as she made odd high-pitched noises of pleasure in her throat.

Between making out with the harpy and the passion-filled noises coming from the oni, Rone found himself quickly getting hard. Felli noticed this immediately and began rubbing her sex over the material covering his erection, soon the harpy's juices had covered the front of his trousers.

Rone lifted the harpy up and looked down, it looked like he had wet himself. "Umm… maybe I should take these off?" he asked. Felli nodded eagerly. As he set her back down Felli proved how nimble the small clawed hands on her wings were by quickly undoing his belt for him. Rone lifted up and slid his pants down, Felli's eyes locking on his erect prick as soon as it was revealed. Her eyes never left his groin even as she helped him get his trousers the rest of the way off. Rone had been worried for a moment about sticks or other nesting material poking him in the rear but quickly discovered that was not an issue. Felli spent a couple of hours each day working on her nest and making sure that down and feathers were woven into the cup and everything was nice and comfortable.

Felli climbed back into the nest next to Rone once his pants were out of the way and stared down at his cock. Her sex was screaming at her to climb on top and ride him, even more now that she could take in his scent and see the tiny drop of precum form on the tip. However, she wanted to wait until later tonight when they had all the time they needed to enjoy themselves. Even though she had a feeling that Kal and the blue woman would be in the bath for some time, the harpy still didn't want them to walk out in the middle of her and Rone making love.

She leaned over and licked the clear droplet from the head of his cock, causing a sharp intake of breath from Rone. The big blue lady was right, it did taste better when freely given. Felli was hardly a virgin but what she was doing with Rone was very new to her. Many of her previous lovers had been subjected to a lust crazy harpy their first time with her. Later couplings, if there were any, were filled with either fear or revenge and largely unpleasant until the man fled. Sick of her husbands running off, she had decided to make her home up here to prevent further escapes. Unfortunately, she had been ill prepared for how lonely living at such altitudes would be. Now that she had Rone, she'd never need to worry about either of those things again.

Felli savored the flavor for a moment before slowly taking Rone's prick into her mouth and swirling her tongue around the head. Rone groaned and reached down to run his fingers through her hair. The harpy froze, she didn't think that she had teased him very much but Kal had said to expect a man to start shoving his cock on her mouth after he put his hand on her head. Her husband, however, just smiled down at her and kept playing with her hair. Guessing that she had misread the situation or that Kal was somehow wrong she put her tongue back to work as her lips slid down his shaft.

Felli's small stature meant that her mouth wasn't very deep. Rone was about to say something when the head of his cock bumped the back of her throat, expecting her to gag and pull away in the same manner Marda did. His surprise evaporated into an appreciative groan as his dick slipped into her throat without any sign of discomfort. Soon after he felt her lips press up against the base of his prick as her tongue swiped back and forth across his shaft. Rone might have been less surprised if he had known that harpies as a species didn't have a gag reflex and the very idea was completely foreign to her. As he ran his fingers through her hair he stopped with his hand on the back of her head. Applying a tiny bit of pressure, he soaked in the pleasant feeling of being fully embedded in a woman's mouth for the first time.

Felli, meanwhile, had closed her eyes and was letting Rone's musk fill her senses, sending small shockwaves of pleasure straight to her pussy. She began rolling her hips forward seeking some kind of stimulation. Her wing-hands were good for dexterous tasks like undoing the belt and buttons on her husband's trousers, but the claws made them ill-suited for things like playing with herself. Normally if she needed to get off she would find something to rub her sex against until she came, it occurred to her that this time she had more options. As she began sliding her lips back up Rone's prick she guided his other hand down beneath her and pressed it against her pussy.

The soft feathers that normally hid her sex from view were completely soaked with the harpy's fluids. Rone first dipped one, then a second finger into Felli's sopping pussy as she took a few long deep breaths with just the tip in her mouth. Her tongue danced around the underside of his head as he dragged his wetted fingers forward and brushed them across her clit. Felli let out a small shriek and suddenly took him halfway down his shaft as she jerked away from the intense pleasure. Once the initial surprise was gone she began seeking out his hand, which he had jerked away in fear that he had hurt her. As she once again pressed his hand to her sex she continued taking him all the way to the root and once there began making small bobbing motions. While her throat massaged the head, Felli's lips worked the base and her nimble tongue flicked and darted over everything in between.

Rone found Felli's clit again about the same time he started to feel the familiar tightness in his groin.

"Felli, I'm about to come," he warned her after tapping her lightly to get her attention. He was again surprised at the beaming smile she attempted to give him with her lips still wrapped around his cock. This was the time that Marda usually pulled off and jerked him off onto her tits, she didn't particularly like the taste of cum but loved the feeling of it on her breasts, rubbing it into them like an expensive lotion. Felli pulled up and took a couple of deep breaths before sliding her lips to the base of his shaft again. The knowledge that he was welcome to come in her mouth, and even down her throat, proved to be too much for the man.

He put his free hand on the back of her head and held her in place as he began to shoot down her throat. After the first shot, she pulled back a bit and he yanked his hand away, giving Felli an apologetic look that she never saw. The next couple spurts landed on her tongue and the harpy immediately took him down to the root again, letting him finish in her throat as she savored the treat in her mouth. This was far and away her best experience with a man's cock in her mouth. While not nearly as pleasant, her other experiences had at least given her the knowledge that she very much loved the taste of a man's seed.

As Rone relaxed he realized that his fingers had stopped and began lightly rubbing Felli's pussy again, she immediately began pushing her sex down onto his hand.

"Umm… Felli?" The harpy looked up at him with his softening cock still between her lips. "Would you like me to do the same for you?" he asked. She looked up at him in confusion, no man had ever done such a thing to her, much less offered, leaving her unsure of what exactly he was asking. Seeing the lack of understanding in her eyes he reached over and lifted her body up and over him. The harpy let out an indignant squawk as his dick was pulled from her lips. After giving her a moment to make sure her talons were out of the way, he lowered her sex to his mouth.

Felli saw Rone's soft prick was still below her and gently took it back into her mouth, humming in pleasure and excitement as he took his first tentative licks of her dripping slit. Her scent and taste were light and not very fragrant compared to Marda's. Even so, her juices seemed to have the same effect on him as he felt his cock stir, however, the best he could manage was half-hard so soon after cumming down the harpy's throat.

Rone had wanted to take his time and explore her a bit but Felli was too turned on at that moment for any delays. Placing her clit directly over his lips she pressed down lightly and began moving her hips in small circles over his face, letting out muffled moans as she still held his dick in her mouth. He smiled as he held the needy harpy's hips in place and attacked her clit with his tongue. Her body stiffened at the contact, this was far better than rubbing against something, or even his fingers and she had quite enjoyed those. As Rone switched between making small circles and flicking back and forth her body got tighter and tighter as the pleasure increased until she was suddenly screaming around the cock in her mouth, her talons and wing-hands both digging into the nest below as she came. In a short moment of terror Rone wrapped his arms around Felli and held her tight against his chest to keep her from possibly lifting her feet up, he'd have to be careful of those in the future.

Felli collapsed on top of him, panting as his prick slipped from her mouth. Rone was only partially aware that the sounds coming from the bathroom had stopped for a moment as he picked the harpy up and laid her down sideways in the nest with a questioning chirp. Laying down behind Felli, he laid an arm over her side and cupped one of her breasts as the sounds of lovemaking started up again from the bath. Chuckling he nuzzled and kissed the back of the harpy's head while she made quiet cooing noises of contentment. Minutes later they had both dropped off to sleep.

Ikuno heard voices coming from the room out front and opened her eyes, looking in that direction. She was curious what it was that made it difficult for the harpy to fly but pushed the thought off to the side as something to ask about later.

Looking over at Kal she felt her face heat up as she blushed dark purple. She felt silly even as it happened, they had been intimate so many times it seemed foolish to be embarrassed about something like playing with herself in front of him. This wasn't the first show like this she had done for one of her lovers, but that had been ages ago and, curiously, she had reacted the same way then. However, she was also doing something that was very personal and private, normally only happening when Kal wasn't around. Even so, it was hard not to enjoy the effect she was having on him as she started moving her fingers and watched Kal grip his cock through his trousers. After lifting a leg up onto the side of the bathtub to give herself better access to her bottom she laid her head back once again and closed her eyes.

Kal crawled towards Ikuno when he saw her eyes shut, a smile came to his face as he remembered a similar scene from the day he returned to her cave. When he was next to the foot she'd put up on the side of the tub he sat back on his knees and breathed in the heady scent of her arousal. A moment later he hissed at the sensation of his cock sliding down his pants leg as it grew to fit the oni in front of him when the compatibility spell kicked in.

Ikuno dipped a couple of fingers into her sex to get them wet then reached around to her bottom and began making small circles around her pucker as her other hand began doing the same with her clit. With a long moan, she slowly slid a finger into her ass and began working it in and out, her chest heaving as she began to pant from the pleasure. Soon after she added the second finger, slowly pushing as deep as it would go along with the first. Kal's undivided attention was on the fingers as they disappeared into the tight ring of her anus until her fingers suddenly came off her clit and dove into her pussy, the heel of her hand pressing hard on the swollen purple nub. Kal looked up in confusion and saw Ikuno's head turned to the side, her mouth open as she breathed heavily. A look of strain was clearly etched on her face as her skin started to shimmer from the light sheen of sweat that appeared. After a long, calming lungful of air, she opened her eyes and looked down at him without turning her head.

"You… need to finish up… with those runes," she said between breaths, "I don't know… how much longer… I can keep… from cumming."

Kal realized at that moment he would probably never be as good at teasing as the oni in front of him, he loved seeing his women in the throes of pleasure far too much. Still, he had to poke a little bit of fun at her. "Is that all the longer you can last?" he asked. Seeing her brow furrow Kal laughed, "screw the runes. Do it, I want to watch you cum for me."

The oni just closed her eyes and nodded vigorously as her fingers began slipping in and out of her pussy and ass again. She kept her fingers in her pussy for a bit longer, Kal could tell that she was rubbing the sensitive rough spot just inside, before bringing them back up to her clit. Over just a few seconds she built up speed until was pistoning her fingers in and out of her rear while her other hand rubbed in quick circles over her pearl.

Moments later Ikuno's head tilted back as her face started to flush, which then worked its way down to the tops of her breasts. She gritted her teeth as she attempted not to scream but a high-pitched whine still escaped her lips as she climaxed. Her hand came off her clit and her fingers dipped back into her sex to tease the rough spot once again. This was quickly followed by a small rush of her fluids that drenched her hand as she seemed to climax again while in the midst of her last one.

Kal gripped his prick tightly through his pants as he watched her pussy and ass clench repeatedly around the oni's fingers, wishing once again that he had his cock buried in one of those holes, so he could feel her squeeze down on him.

Ikuno relaxed back against the wall, her eyes fluttering open to take in Kal with a look that was filled with desire. Smiling weakly at him she got up on wobbly legs and fed some power into the "warm" rune next to the bath's upper spout. The water that began spraying out went from icy cold to comfortable in seconds. Ikuno kneeled in the tub so most of the water poured down over her lower back and bottom. Leaning forward against the shower wall she shook her ass as an invitation to the young runesmith.

Kal disrobed as quickly as he could and stepped into the shower behind her. Taking his oni-sized cock in hand he placed it at her rear entrance. As warm water poured down on them he slowly began to press his way into her waiting ass.

"I want to do this with the help of Bea's dust sometime," said Ikuno looking over her shoulder.

Kal thought for a moment about the image of Ikuno with a rounded belly as if she were pregnant. Grabbing her hips, he drove his cock the rest of the way into her, getting a moan of pleasure from the oni as he stretched and filled her backside. "Yes, we are doing that," he said with finality, wanting to make sure she understood that it absolutely was going to happen at some future time.

As Ikuno had said earlier, it had been a while since Kal had fucked her ass and he wanted to enjoy the experience. Unfortunately, as he took her by the hips and started to drive his cock into her bottom he realized that wasn't going to happen. Sooner than he wanted he was holding himself tight against her backside as he pumped the contents of his balls into the oni's rear.

Ikuno looked back and saw the look of slight disappointment on his face. She shared the feeling but could hardly blame Kal considering how excited he had gotten watching her play with herself, then the image of her pregnant she pushed toward him at the mention of Bea's dust; a man can only take so much.

Luckily, she had a solution and reached down between her legs, brushing her fingers across his scrotum as she cast the rejuvenating spell. Feeling him start to swell again she put her hand back up on the wall and ground her bottom side to side against him, smiling as she imagined the seed already inside her being stirred around by his prick.

"You have got to teach me that spell," said Kal.

She grunted in agreement as he took her by the hips again and started pounding her ass just the way she had wanted.

"Whoah… that's a bit more of Rone than I cared to see," said Kal as he and Ikuno finally came out of the bathroom and saw the couple napping in Felli's nest. Rone hadn't bothered to put his pants back on after they had their fun. "Where did those come from?" he said staring at Felli's chest. Rone's hand had slipped down over her stomach and her much-enhanced bust was difficult to not notice, especially with the small pink nipples poking out of the fur-like feathers that covered her chest.

"I think I may know," said Ikuno. "Let's let them sleep. To be honest I could use a nap myself after all that work."

Kal followed her into the tunnel leading out. "Work? What work? I was doing all the work!"

As they stepped out of the tunnel Ikuno reached up and stretched. "Getting off that many times takes it out of a woman. Plus, I want to curl up with my man and enjoy what's left of the afterglow."

Kal felt his eyes drawn to the oni's curves like magnets as she reached up while thrusting her chest out and hips back, the smirk on her face told him the pose was for his benefit. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think if you keep doing things like that I may try to get another round out of my friend down there," he replied waving at his groin.

She thought seriously about offering him another magically-assisted round, but her bottom had a pleasant soreness right now that she wanted to enjoy, any more and it might actually start getting painful. "Okay, no more teasing. What do you have in mind until supper then?"

Kal sighed, "To be honest I'm feeling pretty worn out myself. Us men really aren't built to go again and again and again like we just did. I still need to figure out the water gets heated, but I can do that later. A nap sounds like a wonderful idea right now. But first I'm curious what you know about Felli's chest, those weren't there when we went into the bath."

"I heard her tell Rone that they make it harder to fly. Scholars studying harpies are few and far between, I have a feeling that in the process of 'studying' they end up becoming husbands to their research, so I haven't read up a lot on them. Also, I don't have any books on harpies in my current library.

"What I can recall is varied, researchers would see a harpy take a new husband and then have breasts the next day, some wouldn't. Some thought that it was tied to their arousal, but others dismissed that based on their own observations." Kal had to agree, she had certainly been in a lusty mood after their game of chase earlier and there'd been no sign of larger breasts when they landed. "All I can tell you for sure is that they don't like flying with them, being described as awkward or ungainly in the air. Your best bet is going to be asking Felli when we come back."

Kal nodded, "I may do that. Now, how about that nap?" he said smiling up at Ikuno.

A few hours later found Rone working on supper over the cooktop as Kal practiced his geomancy by making the attendant's quarters a bit homier and more useful for human living. After removing the broken-down shelving next to the magic range, Kal pulled some new shelves out of the stone wall to replace them. Rone quickly went about loading them up with the various foods and eating utensils that Marda, Nina, and Perra had sent back earlier. He then asked Kal if he could make some more like that along the back wall since he had some bedclothes to put up and planned on bringing up some extra clothes and such for his future stays. Instead, Kal traced out a large rectangle and pushed it back into the stone then pulled out three evenly spaced shelves inside it using the same technique as before. Another similar set of shelves ended up on the wall opposite the sink and toilet in the bathroom replacing the cubbies that were already there.

Felli mostly just sat on her perch at the table and stared at the things Kal was doing with wonder. Earlier she had been annoyed at all of the changes to her living area until Ikuno took her off to the side and explained that they were to make Rone more comfortable on the days when he was staying up here with her, as well as Marda if she ever decided to visit. The harpy immediately brightened at the idea of having Rone stay for days at a time, Ikuno couldn't tell if this was the first time she had considered the idea or if she had just forgotten the conversations from earlier.

Kal also raised up the floor beneath Felli's nest to something a bit more comfortable for a human to sleep in. Felli immediately complained that she couldn't just step into it anymore. He then made another stone perch like the one next to the table for her to step on before entering the nest. Rone had walked up to see what was going on and happened to be standing right behind Felli as she tried out the new perch. A look passed between Rone and Kal with Rone making a motion indicating that he should raise it up a tiny bit more. With the adjustment made, Rone asked Felli to try it again and had her stop on the perch. Looking down at the harpy's backside, the farmer smirked at the young wizard and nodded his approval before returning to preparing their food.

Ikuno manned the 'kitchen' for a little bit as Rone asked Kal about making a more standard bed frame out of stone, something that he could weave ropes across and put a wool mattress over, he just couldn't see Marda being happy sleeping in the nest if she came up to visit. Working stone into something as seemingly simple as a bed turned out to be more of a challenge than expected for Kal. He had gotten used to having plenty of material to work with, just pulling things out of the floor or wall. When he made a post then tried drawing one of the side rails out of it he was surprised to see the post get smaller and smaller until it nearly snapped. He ended up redoing the side rail twice before he finished with a thick enough bedpost for him to be comfortable with. As Kal finished putting in the last of the holes in the rails for the ropes to eventually pass through, Rone announced that supper was ready.

"This is very strange," said Felli thoughtfully as the other three tucked into their meal of pork steaks and cooked veggies.

"What's that?" asked Rone.

"I've never had someone make me food before. This is the first time in as long as I can remember that I didn't have to go hunting to eat," she said picking up a strip of cooked pork with her claws and biting off a small piece. Rone had sliced up her portion since she was still getting used to the idea of eating with utensils and needed more practice.

"I think that this is more of a celebratory meal for you joining Rone's family," said Kal, "I'm certain your hunting skills will prove to be very useful in the future."

"Speaking of futures, you mentioned something about hiring Felli as a caretaker for all of this. What exactly did you mean by that?" Rone asked.

"Mostly what I said down at your place, clean up a bit and keep things maintained until I can put together the resources to start turning this into a village."

"What kind of a timetable are you thinking? And what will happen to Telsin? There's a good chance that being so close might put your village at odds with them."

Kal sat back, "I hadn't really thought of that. Personally, I'd like to see Telsin become as welcoming to monster girls as what I have planned here. Sadly, I know already that will never happen, too many in the town council will never accept non-humans." He looked down at his plate, deep in thought for a few seconds before answering, "As of right now I don't have an answer for what may happen with Telsin. However, I still have a few years to worry about it, which I think answers your first question. Chances are good that it is going to take time to build up the money for what I have planned."

"You could do the same as how you got the amethyst," suggested Ikuno.

"I thought of that, but then it wouldn't feel like I worked for it. Besides, I don't think she would let me."

Something clicked with Rone, "You're talking about your friend that can move through stone and was going to rescue me, aren't you?"

Kal suddenly realized something and cursed under his breath, Ikuno picked up his thought through the bond and looked like she had bitten into something sour. "I should have never mentioned her yesterday. I apologize Rone but you and Felli are going to have to keep Gerda a secret as well," said Kal. "Keeping quiet about Ikuno is a very personal thing for her. Speaking to anyone about Gerda is a very different situation. If the wrong people found out about her it could put you and your family in serious danger, if not from the people who would hunt her then from me if I found out she came to harm from your actions."

A flicker of concern flashed across Rone's face as he took in the implications of Kal's last statement. Glancing at Felli he realized he would act exactly the same way if his and Kal's positions were reversed. "You've brought Felli into my family and are going to make me a very rich man. My lips are sealed," he said with a smile.

"While we are talking about Felli," Kal blushed a little bit, "Umm… Felli? Where did those come from?" asked Kal while cupping his hands and making a motion as over his own chest as if he had breasts.

"Oh those?" she said looking down, "Rone gave them to me," she said as if that explained everything.

"That… makes sense, in a weird way, but I'm curious how."

"He touched them," said the harpy and went into an unabashed explanation of the events leading up to her breasts growing. By the time she was done Rone was staring intently at his plate and steadfastly refusing to meet anyone else's eyes.

Kal nodded when she was done, "You said that they make it harder for you to fly, is there a way to make them shrink again?"

She looked down again then at Kal, "Don't you like them?"

Kal tried not to laugh at the look of disappointment on her face, "They are very nice Felli and I'm sure that Rone is enjoying them very much. However, since I won't be touching them I'm more interested in how they work."

"Oh," she didn't seem terribly convinced by his explanation. "They grow when a man touches them, but not all the time. All the other men it took a while for them to appear. Rone is the first person they've done this so soon. Since I didn't have to go hunting tonight and Rone seems to like looking at them, I let them stay." She hefted her breasts with her hands and both sets of male eyes were immediately drawn to her chest, though she only noticed Rone's gaze which put a smile on her face. After a moment of enjoying her husband's stare, she continued, "They go away after I've been flying for a few minutes or I can just flap my wings in place to do the same thing. Air doesn't flow right over them, and they throw my balance off, so I'll usually make them go away beforehand."

"That must be useful," said Ikuno, "I couldn't tell you how many times I wished I didn't have mine when I was learning martial arts. Being thrown off balance because of all this extra weight attached to your chest is a pain, especially when your instructor doesn't pull punches."

Thinking back on his and Ikuno's sparring matches, it certainly didn't sound like fun to Kal. A couple of seconds later he snorted at the thought of Ikuno staring down the gargoyles from before, flapping her arms wildly as she tried to make her breasts shrink. Kal pushed the image at Ikuno who glared at him with annoyance then sent back an image of herself with the flat chest of a man. It was Kal's turn to look like he had just eaten something he didn't like.

Ikuno seemed taken aback, "What was that for? You don't seem to mind Aradelle's chest, and she hardly has any tits at all!"

"That wasn't the problem," he snapped back though he couldn't stop one side of his mouth from curling up into a smile. "The issue was that you gave yourself a man's chest, not your chest with tiny breasts." Kal paused for a moment tried to put together a reasonable mental picture to send back at her but the best he could manage was a bit smaller than her current bust. He leaned over and reached under the leather flap covering her chest, running his fingers along the bottom of one of her breasts. "I can't seem to bring myself to imagine you being endowed like 'Dell. I guess I like what you have too much for that."

"Not that I don't enjoy what you are doing," said the oni as she gently pushed his hand away, "but we have an audience."

"Oops… sorry," Kal said as he looked over at Felli and Rone. His grin didn't come across as very apologetic.

The harpy and her husband gave Kal and Ikuno looks of utter confusion until Rone spoke up, "Is that the 'bond' you were talking about earlier?" Oni and wizard both nodded. Rone looked over at Felli, "Is there a chance that will happen to us?"

"Unlikely, but not impossible," answered Ikuno. "I believe that Kal's natural magical abilities are what makes it so easy for him to accept a bond with a monster girl. Keep in mind, Kal is very unique in that it usually takes decades to develop the kinds of abilities he has. If you were to start now and train your own magical skills, then you might be able to form a similar bond with Felli in twenty to thirty years."

Rone's eyes went wide at how long it would take "What about her?" he asked still looking at the harpy.

"Like all monster girls, harpies were born of magic. From her ability to fly, to making other things lighter at a touch, to her enhanced chest, she has more than enough magic within her to initiate a bond. Sorry, Rone, your human nature is the hold-up."

"I have no plans on dropping everything I've ever known to go learn magic, so I suppose we we'll never have to worry about it," he said with a mix of both sadness and relief.

"That may be for the best," said Kal. "There is very little jealousy among my women and even that isn't really jealousy, more like disappointment that I can't get over to see some of them more often. I mean no offense when I say this, I don't think Marda is the type who would tolerate you being bonded to Felli and not her."

Rone cringed, "I think you are right on that." The conversation petered out after his statement and there was an uncomfortable silence as everyone finished up their meals.

For as overbearing as Ikuno's personality could be at times there was little doubt that, in the end, she deferred to him, much like in the bathroom earlier. She might try to squirm out of a particular situation, so she could meet his demands on her own terms, but eventually, she would give him what he wanted, even if it was in a slightly different manner than what he had planned. It was a game to the oni, but one that Kal was always the winner at and Ikuno made sure of it.

Looking at Rone, Kal couldn't say that he felt pity for the man, he was obviously very happy with his wife. Kal just didn't think that he could find the same kind of happiness constantly playing the subservient role in the relationship. As Felli hopped off her perch and went over to lean up against the other man a flicker of concern ran across Kal's face. The doting look Rone was giving the harpy told a lot about how the man felt about her. Caring, passionate, protective, the only one of those that worried Kal was the last. He was glad he wouldn't be in Rone's shoes the first time Marda snapped at Felli and put his submissive nature at war with his protective side.

After supper they made good use of the working faucets in the bathroom to clean everything up, then Rone had a request for Kal.

"Could you perhaps move the table? I really like having one, but it is a bit in the way right here in the middle of the room. I thought I should ask now instead of tomorrow morning just as you are about to leave."

After the intricacies of the bed frame earlier it took only a couple of minutes to return the table and seats to the floor and pull out a large slab from the wall along with a diagonal support that ran nearly to the floor. At Rone's request, he only made a perch for Felli at the end of the new table saying that he would bring up materials for some wooden chairs next time Felli took him home. Kal had to admit the room felt a lot more open with the change.

It was getting late and Kal and Ikuno were preparing to head back to the storeroom for bed when Rone stopped them. "One last thing Kal," he pointed up at the large crystal in the ceiling that was lighting the room. "Do you have any idea how to turn that off? I haven't slept in the dark in days."

Kal followed the magic lines just beneath the surface of the stone over to the wall next to the exit where they spread out and became so faint he couldn't see them anymore, though he could sense the magic running through almost the entire wall once he made his eyes glow. Even then he couldn't figure out the mechanism to turn them off, though he did see that there was a detector rune much like over in the storeroom to turn them on when someone walked in. Thankfully Ikuno was able to help out once he described what he was seeing.

"Think of how much light you want and direct it at that wall," she suggested. Kal tried this and the lights immediately dimmed. Behind him, Rone let out a whoop of joy as Felli chirped with curiosity from her perch next to the nest. Kal turned and looked at the oni, his eyes alight with curiosity and a little bit of wonder.

"Oh, hells no," said Ikuno taking his hand and pulling him towards the exit. "I've seen this before in palaces and wizard towers, so you can pick my brain later about how it works. It's time for bed." She threw a meaningful glance in Felli's direction.

Kal saw her look and put up a token resistance to her pulling, "But… but… It's new, and interesting, and it works with just thoughts!" He gave an exaggerated sigh and glanced backward, barely managing to get out, "Bye Rone. Bye Felli," before Ikuno pulled him into the tunnel.

Once they got out into the crisp mountain air Ikuno took a couple of deep breaths as Kal summoned a small light for them only to dismiss it a moment later as the moon and stars were more than bright enough to see by. "You humans and your weak noses are lucky sometimes."

"That's a strange compliment," said Kal looking up at her.

The oni pushed the piece of leather hiding her sex off to the side and ran her fingers over her lips, Kal could see her hand glisten in the moonlight as she pulled it away. "I hadn't planned on doing anything tonight, but the scent of horny harpy seems to have gotten me all warmed up again," she said in what seemed like genuine annoyance.

Kal pulled her hand close and ran his tongue up one of her fingers, enjoying the familiar taste. "I'm with you on not having anything planned but I won't turn down a quickie before bed," he said with a smile.

"Thank goodness," she said and with a sly grin walked out the mouth of the cave while undoing the buckles on her leathers.

"What are you…?"

She laid the strips of leather out on the ledge a small distance apart before kneeling on them. Ikuno looked back over her shoulder, "once you have turned this into a village we won't have much opportunity to do this," she said before leaning over and swaying her ass back and forth in invitation.

Kal took a moment to appreciate her undulating body in the moonlight before removing his cloak and moving towards her.

Rone took a minute to marvel at the ability to change the lights with little more than a thought before he heard a voice off to his side.

"Rone, come join me," came Felli's voice in a tone he hadn't heard before. Looking over he saw that she was lying on her side in the nest giving him a look that would do a seasoned seductress proud. Where yesterday Kal had been amazed at how bird-like she seemed, Rone was thinking the exact opposite at the moment. The way she stretched out accentuated the feminine curves of her hips and waist, along with her enhanced bust she looked more human than she had since they met. His body's reaction was immediate. Dimming the lights, Rone started shedding clothes as he moved towards the nest, only stopping for a moment at one of the sunken shelves Kal had made to grab a blanket.

Rone felt a little bit self-conscious under Felli's appreciative gaze, this would actually be the first time for him to be completely naked in front of her. Had she known his thoughts, Felli could have told him he had nothing to worry about, his life working the fields of his home had kept the man in good shape. As he dropped his trousers the harpy smiled and unconsciously licked her lips when his prick was revealed.

Felli scooted forward and hung her head over the side of the nest. Giving Rone a knowing smile she rolled onto her back and opened her mouth for him. Rone said a quiet thanks to Kal for raising her nest as he stepped up to the harpy, sighing when her lips wrapped around the head of his cock. She flicked her tongue across the tip for a moment before sucking powerfully and drawing him the rest of the way in, when he reached her throat Rone continued pushing until he was fully seated inside her mouth. He looked down as he began to slowly stroke in and out, thankful that he had left the lights on high enough to watch as his cock make her throat bulge every time he pressed into her. The sight combined with the feel of slowly fucking her throat and Felli's obvious enjoyment of the act brought him quickly to the brink of release. With a groan of disappointment, he grasped the base of his dick to keep from cumming and withdrew from her mouth.

Rone leaned over and gently sucked on each of her small pink nipples to the appreciative coos of the harpy before instructing her to turn around. As she presented her glistening sex to him Rone threw the blanket on the hard stone in front of her and knelt down on it. He gently brushed away all of the damp feathers around her pussy before running his fingers over her lips. He brought his other hand up and gently spread her open before leaning forward and slipping his tongue inside her. Felli had been watching Rone intently up until now, as his tongue slid in and out she turned her head to the side and moaned at the sensation, her wing hands coming up to rub across her breasts.

Rone settled into the pleasant task of slowly bringing Felli to her first orgasm, switching back and forth from teasing the lips around her entrance to taking a couple of light swipes at her clit. He was trying to stall for time and allow his prick to calm down a bit but even as Felli got closer and closer he still felt like he was on the verge of cumming and that his cock had hardly flagged at all. That changed when he sucked her pearl into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it. Felli had been careful to keep her talons tucked in but as she was overwhelmed with the sensations from her sex she started to stretch and curl her toes reflexively. Rone quit spreading her open with his fingers and quickly took hold of her ankles, holding her legs away from him as he attacked her button. A strange ripple went up Felli's body as she came that seemed to make every one of her feathers stand up on end before she let out an ear-piercing shriek and reached down, holding his head tight against her pussy. As her body relaxed and she let his head go Rone moved back down to gently lick and nibble her around her entrance. He was especially enjoying looking up her body and seeing her stomach tighten and relax with the aftershocks of her climax and watching her ample chest rise and fall as she got her breath back.

Felli slowly opened her eyes and looked at Rone giving him a lusty smile that let him know she wasn't done yet. A second later a frown crossed her face as he saw what his hands were doing. "Sorry," she said, feeling honestly ashamed that Rone had to defend himself from her even as they were making love.

"Don't be Felli, we just need to do things a bit differently than I do with Marda. However, I'd rather not have to worry about these," he gave her legs a light squeeze, "would you rather be on top or in front?"

"In front?" she asked but Rone didn't hear it that way.

"In front it is," he said picking her up and holding her tight to his chest, for a moment he was tempted to just lower her down onto his prick and take her that way. While he still hadn't gotten any softer he at least wasn't seconds away from cumming anymore. Instead, he moved over to her new perch and set her down on it. She was still puzzled until he told her to turn around, his hands coming up to her hips once she was facing away from him.

It took a supreme effort on Felli's part to not press backwards when she felt his cock nudge her entrance. "No," she said as she pulled away from his grip and stepped up into the nest. She turned and saw the confused and slightly hurt look on Rone's face. "I want our first time to be face to face."

The hurt and confused expression was quickly replaced by a smile and nod of understanding as he climbed into the nest and laid on his back, beckoning her down. Felli stepped over him and sunk her talons into the material of the nest so Rone would no longer have to worry about them, then lowered herself down to his chest and scooted back until she felt his prick against her sex.

Rone chuckled, "This is something I never thought I'd do."

She gave him a confused look, "What's that?"

"Consummating a marriage, a second time."

"Marriage?"

"You don't really get human customs, do you," he said lining his cock up at her entrance, "Jurien and Kal recognized our union earlier but it's not until now," Rone slowly sank into Felli waiting pussy, "that you are officially my wife."

Felli's eyes had rolled back in pleasure as he slid between her lips, stretching and filling her up deliciously. They snapped back to his face as his words finally registered with the harpy. "Wife?! I thought I was just a member of your family now."

Rone chuckled again, the slight movement making Felli grab his arms from the pleasure it caused. She was trying to figure out why this was so much better than any other time she'd had a man inside her. "You've been calling me your husband this entire time," he said, "well now it's official, I'm your husband which makes you my wife."

A shudder like a mini-orgasm ran through Felli's body at the words, momentarily ruffling all of her feathers. "Your wife needs you to fuck her," she said with an almost feral look in her eyes, "Make love to me later. Right now, I need your seed inside me," she said as she raised up and impaled her sex on his cock again.

Rone had questions about her sudden change in attitude but decided they could wait. Taking her hips in his hands he raised and lowered the light harpy on his prick. It only took a few strokes before the harpy was insensate, her head thrown back and moaning each time he sheathed himself inside her. As Felli became used to the intense, new sensations she started moving her hips back and forth, adding a new sensation for Rone at the same time.

Each time she shifted her hips forward it felt like a strong tongue was pressing hard against the underside of his dick, milking it. A few strokes later whatever was causing the sensation passed across the tip of his cock just before he pressed back into the harpy. He was buried about halfway inside her and getting curious about the sudden change in how she felt when she called out.

"Stop!" she said in a loud whisper, her body locking up as her wing-hands went to his arms to keep him from moving. A mixture of fear and confusion was etched on her face as her mind raced to deal with the sudden change in the situation. Concerned, Rone started to pull out. "Don't move," she said gripping him again.

Rone was puzzled, he knew that he hadn't accidentally slipped into her bottom, and unfortunately knew from experience that this reaction was far too tame. The fear and confusion in Felli's eyes gave way to her trying to make a decision. "What happened?" he finally asked her.

She smiled down at him, "The way seed goes in is not the same way the eggs come out. I was trying to make you feel even better and you slipped into the wrong one."

"Well let me go back into the right one then," Rone was having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of Felli effectively having dual vaginas but his cock was pointed more towards her back now and it did feel very different, and somehow familiar, than it had a moment ago.

"No, wait," she said, "don't pull out, there's something about this that feels very… right." She lowered herself down a bit further and Rone felt something hard against the tip of his prick that reminded him of bumping Marda's cervix. As Felli lifted up he also felt the familiar rough spot on the front wall, the harpy gasped as the base of his head rubbed across it. She slid up and down on his shaft a few more times before lifting completely off and sinking back down onto him. Gone was the cervix and rough spot replaced by the muscular walls that drew him in and proceeded to milk his cock.

"Sometime tomorrow after Kal and his friend leave I want you to take me that way," she said, "I want there to be enough room for you to get all the way inside. Right now, though…" she began squeezing his shaft as she started to slide up and down on him.

Rone leaned back and moaned as she bounced up and down on his prick. The pleasure soon became too much for the harpy and she leaned over him, the added stimulation of her nipples dragging across his chest only speeding her toward climax. After a few minutes of passionate lovemaking Felli's pussy clamped down on Rone's cock and she let out another piercing scream as her orgasm washed over her. Rone was too close to stop and grabbed her hips thrusting up into her until he buried himself deep inside the harpy and did his best to try to fill her up.

Felli laid down on Rone's chest making small noises of contentment as they both recovered. Rone was somewhat surprised that he hadn't gone soft yet but didn't think much of it. Still buried inside the harpy he reached over the side of the nest and felt around for the blanket. After throwing it over the both of them, Rone dimmed the lights to nearly complete darkness and the couple quickly fell asleep.

Three more times during the night Rone woke up and discovered he was still hard, twice he was still seated within Felli's sex when that happened. They had a soft and slow lovemaking session the first time and on the second Felli lay on her side and pulled her tailfeathers out of the way offering him her bottom as the only place of hers he hadn't been yet. He had wanted to try this with Marda for quite some time but after an unfortunate slipping incident, she hadn't let him near her backdoor. The intense tightness along with the pleasure Felli was plainly getting from it sent him over the edge far too quickly for his liking. Rone took solace in her insistence that he would have many more opportunities to take her that way in the future.

The third time he woke up to use the restroom. Finding that he was still hard Rone was beginning to get concerned, and uncomfortable. As he walked out of the bathroom Felli asked what was wrong.

"It won't seem to go away," he said gesturing at his erection.

"Kiss me."

"Umm.. okay," Rone leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips.

Felli scowled, "No, I mean really kiss me."

"What…"

"Just do it," she said with a devious smile.

Rone leaned down and as their lips came together, their tongues immediately started dancing in each other's mouths. "Not that I mind kissing you," said Rone after they separated, "but how was that supposed to help."

"I make a scent just for you that will keep you hard as long as I want," even as she spoke his cock started to droop, "all you have to do is kiss me to make it stop."

"You never used this on me before."

"I didn't want to at all, but I was getting pretty desperate when Kal and his blue friend showed up."

Rone smiled, "Suddenly taking care of two women at once doesn't seem like nearly as much of a challenge."

"You may want to get used to it while you are here, she said beckoning him over to stand in front of her. "I liked waking up with you inside me." She leaned forward and took his now flaccid prick in her mouth and just held it there sighing contentedly. Rone thought that even if he was wrong and it turned out to be a huge challenge for him in the future, Felli was definitely worth it.

The next morning Kal and Ikuno stood in Felli and Rone's home as Felli sat hunkered down in her nest waiting to lay her egg.

"Umm… Rone I know we said we needed to leave as soon as possible after she laid the egg but it's not really necessary for us to be right here, in the room as she does it," whispered Kal to the man at his side.

Rone shrugged, "She asked me to get you, besides it's not like she's bashful or anything. If this was our baby it would be a different story."

Kal conceded that he had a point. Also, it wasn't like she was actually showing them anything since she was facing toward her audience. A few minutes later Rone nudged Kal, Felli's eyes were half-lidded and they could see her lower torso ripple. A moment later her eyes widened again as she stood up, revealing a light tan colored egg with brown speckles.

Kal looked at Rone, "May we?" he asked. Rone nodded as did Felli when he looked in her direction. He and Ikuno approached the nest as Felli stepped away from the egg. Ikuno dried it off with a cloth then wrapped it in a towel before placing it in a wooden box she produced from Kal's pack, then stored the box away again with its new contents.

"I must admit I thought it was going to be bigger," said Kal figuring the egg was just a bit larger than his hand, there was a lot of extra room in the box they had brought.

"Wait till Rone gives me a chick," she said and pantomimed having a round belly then held up her hands about the size of a small newborn.

Kal and Ikuno looked at each other. "That explains how they know the difference," said Ikuno.

"Couldn't they have mentioned it in the book?" said Kal rolling his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" asked Rone.

Kal shook his head, "Nothing important, I'll tell you on my next visit. We need to be going."

A few minutes later they were all standing on the ledge as Kal finished getting his cloak situated. Once done, goodbyes were said all around and Rone and Felli watched as Kal and Ikuno prepared to jump off the ledge with Ikuno only being slightly annoyed at Felli saying, "Goodbye blue lady!"

"Race you," said Kal.

Ikuno glared at him for a moment then looked down the sheer drop off to the slope that ran back towards the section of the forest they had come from. She had been holding the feather fall spell but hadn't activated it yet. She let the spell fade then summoned her iron club, turning around she waved to Rone and Felli then without any fanfare hopped backwards off the ledge.

"Ikuno!" yelled Kal as Rone joined him in peering over the edge and Felli flitted out into the mountain air quickly diving towards the falling oni. With her breasts, she wasn't nearly the graceful creature he had seen yesterday.

Ikuno impacted the mountain slope in a huge cloud of dust as the other three looked on in shock. A second later Kal saw a red magic circle in the middle of the cloud quickly followed by an aqua colored one, shortly after a blue-skinned form came streaking out of the dust running breakneck down the mountain slope, vaulting or jumping over any obstacles that got in her way.

Rone looked over at Kal, "I think you're going to lose this race."

Kal smiled, "I think you're right," he said and dove off the ledge after the sprinting blue woman.

Rone watched until they were both out of sight on the lower slopes then turned around to go back inside just as Felli landed in front of him.

She started walking towards the tunnel to their home with an exaggerated swing of her hips. "I know I have to take you back to the farm later, but I have plans for you now that those two are gone. If you want, you can have another go at my bottom again as well."

Rone smiled, "Felli, dear. For right now, I'm all yours."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Kal carefully set his pack with its precious contents on Ikuno's bed.

"It feels good to be home," he said heading over to the small cubby so he could relieve himself after the trip back from Felli's cave.

"I think that's the first time you've ever called this 'home'" said Ikuno as she dug through Kal's pack and retrieved the pouch with his extra crystals in it. She went into the library and got her own pouch off the shelf, trading out the ones she and Kal had used to power their speed spells to get back quicker and grabbing an extra to replace the one Kal had given Felli and Rone so they could use their bathroom's features.

Ikuno had been mildly annoyed that Kal had given away one of her crystals, but she quickly dismissed it since he and Gerda had brought back quite a few large crystals from the mana golem's cave. With Gerda's help, the oni figured that they would be able to produce some fairly large flawless crystals, an endeavor that she would likely never attempt on her own because of the danger.

Seeing Gerda quickly and confidently shape the one that went into Perra's necklace had been a surprise, as was Kal shearing the tip off the mana golem's spear. Up until then, Ikuno had been under the impression that only a fully charged crystal could be shaped with magic, one that wasn't completely full would just absorb whatever spell you were using. Because of that, the process took a fully charged crystal and a fair amount of magic, make a mistake and the sudden release of all that energy would be the last mistake you needed to worry about. There were quite a few examples over the lands she had traveled of wizard towers or holds turning into small craters with cutting magic crystals being the most likely culprit.

When she had asked Gerda about it later, the golem had explained shearing the crystals along the lines created by their natural structure actually took very little force and as such very little magic, making the whole process far safer than what Ikuno had believed possible. As a magic-user, the oni couldn't help but feel a bit giddy from the prospect of trading her small collection of near flawless gems for some of even higher quality.

When Kal came out of the small restroom doing up his belt she passed the pouch and crystal for his vambrace off to him, "My turn," she said.

As Ikuno did her business, Kal restocked their rations from what she had on the shelves and traded out his heavier clothes for the trip to Felli's nest with something lighter and more suited for the last leg of their journey. He also took a few minutes to check in with the girls. Aradelle sent back that she was laying on one of her petals watching a small herd of deer grazing in her clearing, her appreciation that she didn't feel the need to take one for food came across very strongly. She blew him a kiss and let him know that she was looking forward to seeing him soon, hopefully with Perra.

Bea was relaxing in her nest with her chitin bodice unhooked and pulled off to the side running her hands over her flat stomach. Though Kal couldn't tell from the images he got from her, she let him know that she could just barely feel where her baby bump was starting. She also sent a warning to him that she had become extremely thirsty for something besides water or nectar. Since communicating through the bond worked more on images and feelings Kal found himself dealing with Bea's strong desire to taste his cum, leaving him making a strange face and trying to clean a flavor off his tongue that wasn't actually there. If he were to taste himself he much preferred it mixed with one of the girl's juices, as had occasionally happened in the past when he went down on them after filling them up earlier or a passionate kiss after he'd finished in their mouth. He was glad the women enjoyed it so much, but it didn't do anything for him.

Ikuno chuckled as she stepped back out into the living area, "That's our man, willing to make the big sacrifices for the sake of keeping his women happy."

Kal didn't realize the thought had been so strong he had broadcast it to the others. "You hardly have room to complain, you've been on the receiving end of that a few times," he grumped.

She bent down and kissed him, "I wasn't teasing you, dear. That was honest appreciation that you don't get bent out of shape about such things and put our pleasures in front of your own discomfort."

"Oops, sorry," he said looking slightly embarrassed.

"Nothing to be sorry for, I can see how what I said could come across as teasing. Are we about ready to go?"

"Just a moment," Kal reached out to Gerda but with as far away as she was all he could tell was that she was on her way back with Sandy. It seemed like such an odd name until Gerda clarified that those weren't their real names but actually their rock types, which would change as they got older. Sandy was the youngest of Gerda's sisters and the rocky parts of her body were made of sandstone, Bas's body was composed of Basalt, and Marble was self-explanatory. Gerda had felt that it should be their decision whether to give their true names or not.

Just to wrap things up Kal decided to check on Perra if he could. He quickly withdrew upon finding that she was working out in the field, pissed off because he wasn't there to help, sweating from the heat, cranky, cramping, and worst of all, horny. His and Ikuno's fun in the shower seemed to have bled through to the young woman yesterday, combined with the vivid impression he had sent her at Rone's farm she was almost obsessing about feeling Kal's cock in her ass.

Kal didn't quite back off quickly enough and a moment later he heard, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!" almost as plainly as if Perra had been standing next to him along with the image of her about to take off the pendant and put it in one of the pockets on the front of her work dress. A moment later his connection with the girl went dead. Kal and Ikuno stared wide-eyed at each other until a couple of seconds later when he felt her presence again along with the equivalent of a mumbled, "Sorry. Stay out," before the connection with Perra faded until Kal could barely tell it was there.

Ikuno chuckled at the poor girl's predicament and picked her pack up, "Ready to go?" she said looking back at Kal who was staring intently at her. A second later her eyes widened as his presence in her mind seemed to fade. "Kal! Stop that!" she nearly yelled, her face starting to get panicked.

"Sorry!" he said looking sincerely apologetic as the bond returned to normal and the oni relaxed. "I didn't know that would actually work!"

"What did you do?" she asked.

Kal searched for a good description for a few seconds before replying, "You heard Perra yell at me a minute ago," Ikuno nodded, "now it's like she's whispering but way over there," he said pointing towards the back of Ikuno's library. "I wanted to see if I could do the same thing."

Ikuno's annoyance was plain, "Congratulations, you can do it. Now don't ever do it again," she said with finality. "When our bond faded like that it felt like you were dying even though you were standing right there."

"I'm so sorry, Ikuno."

The oni sighed, "Don't be, I wasn't aware you could do that either or I would have let you know. Promise me no more shocks like that please?" Kal nodded, still feeling bad for what he had done even if it was by accident. "Are we ready to go now?"

Kal did a quick final check and shouldered his pack, "Lead the way."

As Ikuno came nearer to the eastern mountain pass and the road that ran through it, she let Kal down off her back so they could approach quietly. They didn't want to go barreling across the road and run into, in the very literal sense, a merchant caravan. They were also being extra cautious because this was a prime area for bandit raids on those tired from the trek through the pass. Ikuno's mood turned fouler the closer they got to the road.

"What's wrong Ikuno," Kal finally asked, seeing the scowl on her face as the road came into view through the trees.

"Bad memories, ones I thankfully have not had to repeat since I met you," she said. "To be honest, Kal, I don't want to tell you, but maybe talking to someone besides 'Dell will help. Some of us monster girls are slaves to our nature. Felli and I spoke about it before we came to wake you up that morning. She chose that cave so that her 'husbands' wouldn't be able to run away, at the same time she couldn't blame them for trying to escape. She would wait until she was almost mad with lust before taking a new man and from her descriptions the experiences weren't pleasant for them."

Ikuno sighed, "Before you, I was hardly any different. The men I took to bed were little more than victims and I was no better than my green-skinned kin, nearly fucking them to death before letting them go. For that reason, I stopped taking men from the villages as soon as I found another source. The villages in the area were young still and they needed their men" They stopped just inside the last row of trees and carefully looked up and down the road before quickly crossing. Once hidden in the forest again she continued her story. "Instead, I started hunting bandits and this area was my favorite hunting grounds. I'd find a party, determine that they were actually bandits and not some band of adventurers who happened to camp in the wrong area, and pick which one I was going to take with me. After that, I'd wade in with my club and take them all out but the bandit I wanted. Out of worry that it might bring the Order down on my head, I never used magic to kill them. I'd take him and one of his friend's corpses along with, stop by the pitcher plant girl and drop the corpse in telling the living one that if he didn't please me that would be his fate as well."

The trail opened up in front of them again as they got further from the road. Kal was thinking it was about time for him to climb up on Ikuno's back but kept silent. Unlike many other stories she had told on their journeys, the oni wasn't enjoying telling this one. In fairness, Kal wasn't enjoying hearing it either but he understood it was something important she needed to tell him.

"Of course, I was lying to them. I'd take them back to my cave and take what I needed from them over the next few days, getting a decent performance for the first couple out of fear alone. Once they were too bruised and battered to get it up I'd drag them back to the pitcher plant girl for a final round of ecstasy before they died. It's also how the pitcher plant developed a preference for 'softened' prey, which I'm sure Sir Michael didn't appreciate." A smile came to Ikuno's lips at the memory, the first one since she started speaking.

"How many did you save?" asked Kal.

The oni was taken off guard by the question, "None of them, I killed every bandit I saw."

"Not bandits. Merchants, adventurers, settlers, travelers, how many of them did you save trying to deal with your overwhelming lust over the century you've been here? Tens? Hundreds? Even thousands of people may have safely passed through this area just because you needed some dick." He held up his hands to stall any attempts to interrupt him, "I won't say that you weren't a vicious bitch going about getting that dick. However, as upset as this has made you, I believe you didn't take into account the unintentional good you have done."

She stopped and stared down at him, "You realize I have been beating myself up ever since we got together over this dark period of my life."

"I kind of assumed that from how you've been acting since we came to this area, so yes."

"You realize that I've been worrying myself sick that you would judge me a horrible person for the things I did here."

Kal nodded slowly, unsure where she was going with this.

"You realize that despite my personal anguish over this, your response was, 'Wow! You were a vicious bitch back then!' right after making me actually feel good about all of the horrible things I did."

Kal gave her an uncertain smile, "Yes?... Sorry?... I really don't know what to say here Ikuno. Did I do a good thing or a bad thing?"

The oni closed her eyes for a moment before answering, "You did a very good thing but in a way that makes me feel silly for spending months being worried about it."

"So, I did a good thing, but I did it in a way that makes you feel bad. So, I did a bad thing too."

"Yes… No… Wait…," said Ikuno, her face screwed up in confusion. Kal was having a hard time not laughing over how flustered she was. "Ah, fuck it! Nevermind!" she said throwing her hands in the air and striding down the trail. She only made it a few steps before realizing that Kal wasn't following.

Looking back, she saw Kal standing in the same place. With an exaggerated sigh she knelt down, "Come on, it's still a good way to Silma's cave,"

Kal walked over and climbed up on Ikuno's back, pointing forward he yelled, "Onward my good steed!" in a deep voice.

Ikuno turned her head to look at him, "You may want to wait until after you've been to one of the bigger cities before saying things like that."

The joking smile on Kal's face turned to confusion, "Why's that?"

"A lot of humans think monster girls are strange. Wait till you get to a big city, you'll find out that humans are far weirder. Haste rune please."

Kal activated the rune and pushed the magic into Ikuno, "what does that have to do with calling you my steeeEEED!" he said gripping the oni tight as she took off running.

Ikuno yelled out over the wind whipping past them, "You'll find out!"

"I must say I expected something more like your place when you mentioned her cave," said Kal as he slipped off Ikuno's back. He was looking over at a rock face that sloped away from them, on the surface was a fissure the shape of an eye turned on its side. It looked kind of like… Kal shook his head to clear the thought, he was starting to believe he had sex on the brain a bit too much.

"How far is it to her cavern once we get inside?" he asked.

"As far as actual distance, I couldn't tell you," replied Ikuno, taking her pack from Kal and shouldering it. "The path runs mostly east as it descends and will likely take us the rest of the day to get there. There's a fissure that extends all the way up to the surface that keeps good air circulating through the area where she makes her home. With luck, you won't need that very much," she said indicating the mask Kal was securing around his neck.

"I hope you are right, I prefer being able to talk to people," he said as he finished with the mask and began pulling on his steel plated gloves. "Why not go to the fissure and try to find a path from there? It sounds like it would be a lot closer."

"I considered that when planning this trip. First, I don't know where the fissure breaks the surface or how big it is, I only know of it from what Silma told me, so we could end up wasting time finding it only to discover we can't fit. Second, there are large razor-sharp pieces of obsidian all over the bottom so even if we found it on the surface, floating down would be extremely dangerous. Third, and probably most important, protecting ourselves from the heat of her cavern will put a big drain on our magic. As you know my immunity to hot and cold comes at a price," she said tapping one of her golden horns. "Each time I've gone to see her I've been nearly empty by the time I got back to the surface. It's likely that this will be a much longer visit than any of the others."

"Good point," said Kal, fighting down his nervousness. Ikuno had given him an idea of what to expect when they got to Silma's home and now that they were about to enter the caves to take them there, anxiety was rearing its ugly head.

Ikuno could feel his fear through the bond and wanted to comfort him, but it had been Kal's choice to do this. He had a very strong desire to get his first rune with ink powerful enough to actually go on his body and not the vambraces. Not all of the bandit victims she had told Kal about had gone to the pitcher plant, a few of them she had dragged down to Silma after meeting her, so the salamander could sate her needs as well. She knew what Kal was in for and couldn't help being a bit scared for him herself.

To distract him she pulled a small vial out of a pouch on her pack. Pushing some magic into it, the potion inside began to glow a light red color. "Here, drink this," she said, drawing his attention from his internal musings as she pushed it into his hand.

"What's this?" he asked. Kal pulling out the stopper and took a small whiff before holding it away from himself and making a face showing just what he thought of the concoction.

"I told you to drink it, not smell it," said Ikuno with an exasperated tone. "This will allow you to see in the dark as I do."

"You want me to drink the whole thing? The last time you gave me a potion it was only a few drops."

"That was to last you until you got back to your farm, this will give you night vision for the next two days."

"I see," he began unhooking his waterskin from his pack to wash the foul-smelling potion down with, but Ikuno stopped him. "You have got to be kidding me," he said glaring at her.

"Sorry, Kal. No water for the next hour or it will dilute the potion and not last as long."

Kal groaned then eyed up the vial before tipping his head back and dumping it into his mouth, swallowing quickly to try to keep it off his tongue. He wasn't entirely successful. Once he had swallowed the last couple of drops he tilted his head forward again. With his eyes still closed as he dealt with the horrible taste, he stoppered the vial and handed it back to Ikuno. "That was awful," he said when he could finally speak. Looking up at Ikuno he asked, "do I at least have neat looking red eyes like you now?"

"Kal, it's full daylight out and my eyes are still green, the red is only visible in darkness."

"I know, but I was hoping for something more immediate to make it worth the flavor."

Ikuno just chuckled and started walking towards the entrance to the caves. Kal followed behind swishing spit around in mouth still trying to clean his palate.

Ikuno stopped once the cave ahead was no longer lit by light from the outside. Turning back, she looked at Kal. "There you go, glowing red eyes, just like you were hoping," she said. A few seconds later the oni snorted with laughter. Kal was gazing intently at her, the floor, and the surrounding walls of the cave, almost as if expecting red beams of light to shoot out of his eyes.

He smiled at her when he was done staring at everything, "The way the runesmithing book explained it, I was thinking things were going to be all kind of strange colors. Near as I can tell you and I seem to be glowing a bit but everything else is the same."

Ikuno nodded and started walking down the tunnel again, "What you were expecting is called infravision by the wizard who originally made the spell, it makes things a bunch of odd colors and things that give off heat are brighter than things that are colder. Not terribly useful in caves that are a uniform temperature. The potion I gave you is for something called darkvision, things that give off heat still seem brighter, but you can see a lot more detail and make out colors too."

"Why use the other one then?" he asked.

"Infravision can let you see through things to an extent. If you were hunting and there was a bush in front of you, infravision would allow you to see the rabbit hiding on the other side. With darkvision you wouldn't see the rabbit until it came out from behind its cover. Also, imagine for a moment there's a tunnel off to the side up ahead and some warm-blooded monster was waiting to ambush us. We would be able to see the reflection of their heat on the other wall with infravision. Again, we would just have to be cautious approaching the tunnel if using only darkvision."

"They both sound like things I should eventually have on my bracers."

Ikuno shook her head, "I think it would be wiser to have them only as a backup, if at all. With as little power as they take and as long as the spells last, it would probably be more useful to learn the drawn or held versions if you can manage."

"Speaking of held spells, I've been practicing!" Kal held his hand out flat and Ikuno watched as the magic circle slowly formed above his palm. Gradually all of the sigils and glyphs filled in and with a final pulse of magic, the circle collapsed into a small flame that floated just above his palm.

"No broken fingers, I'm impressed," said the oni with a smile.

"It's only a cantrip level spell, but it's a start," he said tossing the flame from hand to hand before letting it fade. "No more flint and tinder needed for campfires!"

Ikuno rolled her eyes as they continued on their way.

"Well fuck," said the oni as she studied the cave in before of them.

"Look up Ikuno," said Kal pointing at the roof of the tunnel just before the collapsed section.

Turning her eyes to the ceiling, she saw the hand-sized gouges in the rock Kal was pointing at on the edge of the cave in. "It was intentional, which doesn't make me feel any better but I'm glad you saw that. Can you check and see if I might be able to punch our way through?" she said summoning her club.

Kal filled himself with magic and peered intently at the rubble with his glowing eyes as he put a hand on one of the rocks and sent out a pulse of magic. Even after he could no longer see the pulse he could still sense it move through the stone. He removed his hand and looked at Ikuno, "No luck, it's caved in as far away as I can follow." The oni was giving him a strange look, "What?" he asked.

She reached out and teased his hair for a moment, "Give you some white hair and some jet-black skin, you'd make a handsome dark elf with those lavender eyes."

Kal raised an eyebrow, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she smiled, "There's a side tunnel a little way back that we are probably supposed to take according to whatever caused the cave in."

Kal cinched his gloves down, "I don't like the idea that we are probably walking into a trap."

"You don't look like you are getting ready to run back to the surface."

"Neither do you," he said to the oni, "You know more about these tunnels and what we may encounter than I do. If you aren't scared than neither am I."

"Fair enough." Ikuno dismissed her club held out her hand to cast the finder spell, "Take me to Silma," she said, and the small purple flame went dancing off the way they had just come.

They retraced their steps and the little flame turned down the tunnel that Ikuno had expected. After walking for another hour the tunnel widened just before opening up into a large, roughly circular room.

Ikuno looked down, from the end of the tunnel to the floor of the room was a drop of about twice her height. It was easy to see that the room was not a natural structure both from its shape and from the unnaturally smooth floor. Leaning out of the tunnel and inspecting the walls, Ikuno saw hundreds of small marks left by the room's creators. The work was far too shoddy to have been dwarves or elves, even orc and goblin stonemasons did better than what she was looking at. Based on the stonework alone she would have guessed at some lower intelligence animal but the near-perfect symmetry of the room suggested something with more brain power. At a bit of a loss, she turned to Kal who was now standing beside her.

"Looks like we found the trap. Unfortunately, I can't tell what is trying to trap us," she told him.

"It looks almost like some kind of arena. Any idea what might need this much room?"

"Nothing I can think of," Ikuno replied deep in thought, "it doesn't match anything I've encountered so far. I think we need to assume that whatever it is built this because it needs a fair amount of space, so it must be pretty large and yet still has to be small enough to fit through there," she said pointing to a tunnel matching the one they were standing in on the other side of the room.

Kal nodded, "Shall we?" he asked, the strength rune on his bracer glowing.

"Normally I'd say no. However, we are on a timetable with this trip. Unless you can think of any reason not to…" Kal shook his head in response. "So be it," she said and jumped down.

Kal landed next to her a moment later, his eyes again glowing purple instead of blue because of the darkvision potion. They cautiously made their way across the large room watching and listening for any signs of movement. Kal was just starting to hope that whatever made the room had moved on when they heard a noise behind them.

A large rust-colored section was detaching itself from the wall behind them, they watched as four armored legs pulled free of holes in the wall followed by four more on the other side of the creature. Its legs made an oddly metallic clanking noise as turned towards them. Two beady black eyes on stalks regarded Kal and Ikuno for a moment before it turned sideways and stretched up to the tunnel they had just dropped down from. With a good deal of scrabbling on the rock, it finally climbed up into the tunnel and hunkered down, effectively blocking any escape as it began loudly snapping its larger right claw.

"Giant crabs?" Kal had seen smaller freshwater crabs by streams and rivers but nothing this size. When it had stopped to look at them its eyes had nearly been level with his own and it was now taking up the entire tunnel, which had widened a fair amount before reaching the room they were in.

"Not giant, those live in the ocean, just very large. I would be excited about a good meal being delivered to us, but something doesn't feel right," she said, warily eyeing up the creature preventing their escape.

As Ikuno spoke the crab's loud snapping was answered from the tunnel they had planned on exiting out of. Kal and Ikuno turned to face the new threat. Two more large, rust-colored crabs dropped to the floor in front of the runesmith and oni while a final large crustacean took up a guard position in the exit, much as the first one had.

As Kal backed away from the approaching crabs Ikuno summoned a magic circle and pressed it to the ground in front of her before quickly stepping back to where Kal was. A second later a swirling column of fire shot upwards to about the height of the tunnels and quickly spread off to either side creating a wall of flame. A staccato of snapping and clicking noises erupted from all four of the crabs, the one in the exit tunnel directed its attention to each of the other three while making the noises with its large and small pincers. Kal came to the sudden realization that they were communicating.

"They're intelligent," he said with a frown.

"I noticed," said Ikuno, wearing the same expression. "If they mean us harm, and things certainly look that way, we will still have to kill them to get out of here." A magic circle that Kal hadn't seen since Ikuno's fight with Sir Galen appeared in front of her hand. "The eye stalks and joints on the legs are a crab's weak spots, they also have a very difficult time righting themselves if flipped on their back. What the…?"

Kal was equally confused as the crabs walked through the wall of fire without giving the extreme heat the slightest consideration. He and Ikuno separated as the crustaceans finally cleared the flames, one of them slowly advanced on Kal as the other seemed to look between the human and the oni in confusion. Kal took the brief moment to remove his pack with its valuable cargo and toss it to Ikuno. Since her opponent had made no effort to engage her yet, she placed both their packs against the back wall before readying herself for battle.

Ikuno held her hand out and a crescent moon of energy shot out at the crab's face striking the base of the eyestalk but almost immediately dissipating and doing almost no damage other than leaving a silvery streak on its reddish-brown shell. The crab's eyestalks had withdrawn as the bolt struck, tucking away under the front lip of the shell. The oni scowled as they emerged unharmed. Two more of the moon-shaped cutters hit the front of the crab as the wall of fire behind it finally dissipated leaving a faintly glowing line in the floor from the heat. Ikuno had hoped that the first bolt's ineffectiveness had been a fluke but quickly learned that wasn't the case. The two most recent attacks again appeared to have no significant result other than leaving shimmering scars on its shell. Even stranger, after being attacked three times it still had yet to advance on her.

The crab in front of Kal seemed much more interested in him than the other was in Ikuno as it cautiously and purposefully bore down on him. Kal took advantage of its caution and tied his will to the floor directly in front of the crab. When it stepped over the trap, his strength rune shone brightly as he punched upwards. The stone column impacted the crustacean right behind its face and sent it flying end over end backwards. His relief at possibly flipping the crab onto its back was short lived as it tucked in its legs and made a roughly ball shape with its body as it flew through the air. When it landed with a metallic clang the momentum rolled it back into an upright position where it quickly spread out its legs and stood there a moment getting its bearings once again.

Kal pressed the attack by taking a small circular area of the column he had just made and pushing it towards the crab forming it into a spike at the end as he attempted to run forward, pushing the spike in front of him. The whole process was far too slow and the large crab just bent down and let the spike hit its shell, easily snapping off the thinner point. What really caught Kal's attention was the metallic ring the crab's shell made as the stone hit it. "Oh no," he whispered to himself as he looked over at the oni.

Since magic attacks weren't working, Ikuno figured it was time to crack some shells the old-fashioned way and summoned her iron club. Upon seeing her weapon her shelled opponent finally seemed to take an interest in her and began moving towards her. Ikuno heard the sound from Kal's attack on the other side of the room, but with the advancing crab drawing her attention, she failed to understand its implications. Taking the club in both hands she brought it up for an overhead swing that should turn the crustacean in front her into mush.

The crab's larger claw snapped closed on the iron club but with the oni's enhanced strength it made no difference as the weapon slammed down onto the right side of its shell. A sound like a gong rang out and the crab was driven to the floor from the force of the impact, its legs splayed out to either side. The strike also knocked loose the fine layer of rust covering the iron shell which slid off as it continued to ring for the next few seconds revealing the shiny metal beneath. The iron crab now had a deep indentation in its shell complete with divots from the spikes on the oni's club.

Ikuno fared no better in the exchange, the shockwave from the impact ran back up the iron club into her arms causing her to drop the weapon and scream in pain. As she stumbled back and fell to her knees Kal was right there healing her. He hadn't had time to warn her before the massive hit but ran over as quickly as possible to deal with the aftermath. Ikuno was panting from the pain in her arms when he reached her and Kal could understand why as his healing rune went to work. While none of her bones had broken, the shock from such a blow had badly damaged the softer tissues nearly up to her shoulders.

As the pain-deadening aspect of the healing rune kicked in she was finally able to speak, "side pouch on my pack, the blue vial is a healing potion. Hurry, the other one is starting to come this way." Kal nodded that he understood and Ikuno hissed in pain as he released the healing spell and jogged to the back wall where their packs were. Retrieving the potion, he quickly infused it with magic before he removed the stopper and poured it into her mouth. Kal then quickly returned to the other side of the room, leading the uninjured crab away from the mending oni.

Geomancy was proving to be too slow to deal with these creatures and Kal was running out of space as the crustacean drove him toward the back of the room. Kal's shield appeared for a moment and the strength rune shined as he slapped the crab's larger claw away. Using the momentary respite, he glanced back at the wall behind him. With his enhanced strength he jumped backwards, being careful to not jump too high and smash his head into the ceiling. Using the trick Gerda had taught him, he anchored his feet to the stone of the wall about three-quarters of the way up, his strength rune making it easy to stand straight out sideways. Kal's hope was that he was high enough that the crab would have to turn to reach him, making it unable to bring its dangerous larger claw to bear.

Movement off to his side caught Kal's attention. Two beady eyes from the crab blocking the entrance tunnel peered around the corner with an expression that Kal could only guess was surprise, it was a strangely comical moment that made Kal smile despite being in the middle of a battle. On the other side of the room, he saw a flash as Ikuno's club disappeared, a few seconds later magic circles formed in front of the oni's hands as Ikuno continued healing herself. He was surprised to see that the crab Ikuno had hit was still alive but plainly in no mood to fight. Despite the front two of its four legs on one side hanging limply and refusing to work, it was trying weakly to back away from the woman who had hurt it so badly.

Scraping of metal on rock below him drew his attention downward and Kal's eyes widened as the crustacean stood leaning against the wall on its rearmost legs, stretching up to reach for him. The crab was having a hard time balancing as it extended the larger claw and chose to keep it tucked in close to its body as it reached out with the smaller one.

Kal batted the pincer away with a gloved hand but underestimated how nimble the smaller claw was. It dipped out of the way only to flick back in and clamp down on his glove. Small ridges on the inner edge designed to keep prey from escaping caught on the sides of the metal plate attached to the back of his hand. Those same ridges now prevented the plate from turning and allowing the claw to remove Kal's fingers.

The crab began dragging Kal's hand towards its mouth. In a moment of panic, Kal produced a column of stone from the wall beneath him with his other hand and used it to punch the creature away from him. For a moment he thought the crab was going to take his arm along with as it flew backwards but three of the steel plate's four attachment points gave way and the smaller claw snapped closed on thin air as Kal yanked his arm back.

He held up his ruined glove and growled in frustration. Kal hadn't gotten lucky enough to knock the crab onto its back and it had already gathered itself and was starting to approach him again as he ripped the last rivet out of the leather and tossed the metal plate out onto the floor. The large crustacean suddenly seemed to forget the human existed and pounced on the piece of metal like a cat on a fleeing mouse. Kal watched in disbelief as it quickly picked up the piece of steel and ate it. It's eye stalks swiveling around looking for more before turning back toward Kal and starting to approach him once again.

"Ikuno, do you have any iron or steel on you? Buckles? Anything?" he called out.

"No, my buckles are all made of brass. Why?" She yelled back. The oni had seen the crab pounce on something and eat it but had been concentrating on finishing up healing her arms and didn't see what it was.

Kal's shoulders slumped and he hung his head in defeat, which didn't quite work out the way he expected since he was still standing sideways on the wall. He carefully stepped down onto the column he had just made and dropped off the end

"What are you doing Kal?" asked Ikuno when she saw him loosening his gloves.

"I have a hunch. They're looking for food, but they aren't interested in eating us," with the strength rune still glowing, Kal ripped the steel plate that went across his fingers from the damaged glove and walked up to the crab that had been attacking him moments earlier. It ducked backwards as he held the plate out, it's eye stalks tucking themselves under the lip of its shell.

As Kal stood there it cautiously came forward, its eyes peeking back out and its smaller claw gingerly reaching out to take the steel plate from the human. Instead of eating it, the iron crab skittered over and stretched up, passing the piece of metal to its friend blocking the exit, who quickly brought it to its mouth.

"Fuuuuuck… I liked these gloves too," Kal griped as he ripped the remaining plates off the other glove. When his former opponent dropped back to the floor and turned around, Kal held up the other finger plate so the crabs could see it before turning around and tossing it up to the blocker of the entrance. The crustacean deftly snapped the piece of steel out of the air and munched it down within seconds.

Ikuno joined him as he walked over to the injured crab. "Now I feel bad," she said, "it would probably have never approached me if I hadn't summoned my club. Could have saved us both a lot of pain."

The crab shied away from them, along with two of its legs the big claw was now dragging on the ground and one of its eyestalks tilted forward, looking at the floor in front of it. Kal was pretty sure it was no longer working as well.

"It looks like it's dying. Is there anything we can do?" Kal asked.

"Apart from sticking your hand in its mouth and trying to heal it from there? I don't think so," Ikuno replied, "everywhere else is covered in iron and will just try to absorb the magic. Just so you know, I will NOT let you stick your hand in its mouth."

"Not everywhere," said Kal, handing the steel plate to Ikuno and lifting up the limp eyestalk. "This is going to be gross," he said. Holding the stalk in one hand Kal held his other hand over the eye then paused for a moment. Looking to the side he saw the other large crab looking between him and his companion, the one camping in the exit tunnel doing the same, he could almost swear that they both looked worried for their friend. Kal shook his head at the strange thought.

Steeling himself, Kal placed his hand on the crab's eye, finding it to be glassy and smooth instead of wet and slimy as he had expected. The healing rune on his vambrace lit up and Kal directed the magic down the very center of the stalk and into the large crustacean's body. Is was very touch and go as he had to get the magic to the places that needed healing but avoid any parts of the body with high concentrations of iron. It took a full minute before he started pouring energy into the rune with confidence that he wasn't just wasting magic.

The eyestalk in his hand quickly stiffened but the crab didn't try to pull away, as if it understood that Kal was trying to help it. It took another full minute before the large claw started moving again, its two front legs reviving a few seconds later. Kal continued to heal the creature for a few more moments until the magic seemed to vanish all at once. Like normal, everything that needed healing was done and the healing magic began spreading out, up until it touched one of the crab's iron body parts.

He stepped back and sighed in relief as the large crab flexed its legs and claw to make sure everything was working. As Kal healed the injured crustacean its friend had stayed a small distance away. It now slowly approached while snapping and clicking its claws together. Ikuno's opponent partially turned and responded with its own series of snaps and clicks, seeming to show off its working claw and legs. The oni shook her head, she'd heard of crustaceans working together but this was on an entirely different level.

Kal looked over at Ikuno who was still holding the steel plate from his glove. "I'm going to fix the wall and floor," he said before walking over towards the stone columns he had created.

The dented crab watched Kal for a moment as he pushed the column back into the wall then turned towards Ikuno, eyeing up the metal in her hand.

Ikuno held out the piece of steel, "Truce?"

The iron crab carefully took the metal plate from her and quickly ate it. The way it looked at her then dipped its front for a brief moment, Ikuno could have sworn the creature just nodded.

With no more food available and their friend healed the iron crabs quickly lost interest in the travelers. Kal and Ikuno watched as the one blocking the entrance jumped down and carefully reinserted its legs into the holes in the wall they had come out of. It then settled itself into the depression for its body until it once again looked like a large rusty spot on the wall of the cavern. The other three made their way out the exit tunnel, the crab blocking it helping the dented one up by grabbing one of its legs and pulling as it stretched up sideways. As the first crab retreated down the tunnel the one with the dent turned and assisted the last one the same way.

Ikuno got a small running start and ran partway up the wall before grabbing the lip of the exit and pulling herself up, a moment later Kal landed lightly next to her, his strength rune fading as his feet touched the tunnel floor. The passageway on this side was much wider than that of the entrance and had the same stonework patterns as those in the room. It was now easy to see that the crabs had used the slight hooks on the ends of their large claws as chisels to form both room and tunnel.

They stopped and waited as two of the iron crabs inserted themselves into their own slots in the wall while the one with the dent continued on to disappear down a side tunnel. After what sounded like splashing just around the corner it reemerged dripping water from its shell. By the time it managed to insert itself into its own hollowed out portion of the wall the shiny surface where Ikuno had knocked the rust loose was already beginning to turn reddish-brown. The large indentation from Ikuno's club meant that it didn't look quite as natural as the other three.

Kal poked his head around the side tunnel and saw a small pool that had been carved into the floor. More interesting than that to Kal was the large pile of dirt and detritus off to the right of the small room. Various coins and items could be seen poking out of the pile, as he entered the room he even saw a bronze bladed sword sticking partway out.

"Very nice," came from behind him. "Let's see if there's anything of value in here," she said drawing a rune in the air. Her eyes widened as she stared at the pile, "I was thinking we need to stop on the way back, but I don't think this can wait," she said as she approached the pile and started digging through it.

Kal focused on the pile he could tell there were actually quite a few things that were significantly magical in the heap. Ikuno reached her target first and pulled it out, brushing the dirt off and cradling it almost reverently. A couple of seconds later Kal dug his hand into the pile and pulled out… a stick. His disappointment faded as he continued pulling and eventually ended up with a wooden staff.

"For my first real magical item I have to say this isn't quite as exciting as I had hoped," Kal said as he brushed the dirt off the staff. It was exquisitely made with a type of wood he didn't recognize each end had an endcap, one gold and the other… Kal tapped on the metal, it looked like silver but not quite and seemed to be harder as well.

"Platinum, Kal," said Ikuno.

His eyes widened, he'd heard of platinum but had never seen the expensive and rare metal before. Looking at what Ikuno was holding he asked, "What's that?"

Ikuno was holding a small leather bag in her hands like it was made of finely spun glass instead. "This, Kal, is a true treasure if I'm right. A powerful artifact from long before I came into being and thousands of years before Prentas was was even a thought in his mother's mind." Kal was caught up in her words and was leaning over the nondescript leather pouch staring at it, his eyes filled with wonder at what it might be. "These are coveted by the most powerful beings in the land, Kings have risen to power because of them and Wizards have been brought low for them. Toss it into a volcano or burn it with dragonfire, neither will have any effect on it. And it works like… this!" Ikuno tossed the leather pouch up so it smacked Kal in the face. He was so engrossed in her story that he cried out and backpedaled when it hit him, the staff he was still holding onto barely kept him from falling into the crab's little pool as he shoved it back behind himself to keep from falling over.

"Ikuno! Dammit!" he yelled, the oni was on her knees wheezing with laughter.

"I'm sorry," she said between guffaws, "I wasn't going to do that, but you were leaning over so close with stars in your eyes staring at it that I just couldn't resist."

Kal rolled his eyes and picked up the plain leather bag as he was about to speak he heard a metallic clicking coming from the main hallway. He and Ikuno looked over to see the crab with the dent staring at them, it looked between Kal Ikuno and the pile of refuse before wandering back towards his nook.

"What do you suppose that was about?" asked Kal.

"No clue, but I have a feeling that they are more intelligent than I was giving them credit for," she said wiping the tears of laughter away.

"Now that I've heard your fantastical tale about this," he said holding up the pouch. "Perhaps you could tell me what it is?"

"Actually, everything that I said about it is true, but those are stories for another time. It's a bag of holding," she said taking it from him. "It's true that some ancient magical civilization made them and that they are nearly indestructible. Whoever they were, they made thousands upon thousands of these, so they aren't nearly as rare as you might think."

"A bag of holding? What does it hold?"

"Anything. Everything. I don't know of any real limits other than you can't put living or sentient creatures in one. However, I'm not the best person to ask." Ikuno held the bag flat in her hand and called out, "Catalog," towards it like it was a name instead. A shimmering aqua colored opaque figure formed above the bag, Ikuno and Kal reeled back from its appearance. It took on the shape of a female sprite with tiny, useless wings with its hair spilling from its head in all directions hiding its face. What caught the human and oni off guard was the comically large breasts sprouting from her chest, the bottoms of them reached nearly to her knees.

The sprite lifted a hand and pushed the hair in front of her face off to one side. "How may I help you master?" she asked, demurely lifting her eyes to meet Ikuno's gaze. The sprite's eyes widened when she saw the oni's face, "Are you my new master?"

Ikuno shook her head and pointed over at Kal, "I'm not, but he will be."

The sprite-bag-thing spun around to look at Kal and was nearly thrown off her feet by the gigantic breasts. She took a moment to get her balance back before speaking. "New master, does this form suit you?" she said indicating her body.

"Umm… you can change it?" said Kal, hoping that he wasn't going to insult the little sprite-thing if he told her he didn't. As he spoke it sunk in that Ikuno was giving this bag of holding to him, his eyes flicked to her face with a questioning look but she was looking down at the magic item's avatar. "To be honest it isn't very appealing to me."

"Oh, thank the makers!" the little sprite cried out, its demure mannerism disappearing as its wings grew out to something Ikuno considered more normal for a sprite, Kal had only seen pictures of them in books so far. Her hair retracted to just longer than shoulder length and no longer covered her face while her breasts shrank to something more pleasant for her size. She stretched her arms up and tilted her head to either side, the tiny pops along her spine and neck made Kal realize that she was more than just a projection above the leather bag. Her wings started beating and she hovered a couple of fingers widths above the pouch before speaking again. "Do you invoke the right of victory?"

Kal was at a loss and looked up at Ikuno.

"He does, your last master was killed by the crabs in the last room he defeated those crabs."

The sprite turned back to Ikuno "First part checks as true, the second part is only partially true. Elaborate."

"He discovered that they were only looking for iron-based metal as food then healed one that I had damaged, a more accurate description would be that he befriended them."

"Statement checks as true. Right of victory invoked." She turned to look at Kal again, "I currently contain four items would you like to see them?"

"Yes?"

She landed and lifted up the opening of the pouch, four small balls of light flew out and dropped to the floor in a row turning into a large tallow candle, what looked like a healing potion, a small pouch containing magically infused chalk, and a tome on summoning.

"Nothing we need to look at right now," said Ikuno, flipping through a couple of pages in the summoning book before setting it back down. "would you put all of this back and grab whatever you can see in the pile over there, please?"

"My apologies, but you are not my master," said the hovering avatar.

"My commands take priority, but you can follow commands from her as well," said Kal.

The glowing sprite half turned back towards him, giving him a sly smile, "Nice, someone who gets how this part works at least." Waving her hand, the four items on the floor transformed back into little balls of light and flew back into the bag she once again held open. She turned to the partially searched pile and lifted her hand, stopping she looked back at Kal. "Were you going to come back and dig through this some more?" the sprite asked. Kal nodded. "Understood." With another wave, the entire pile of dirt and refuse from the crab's encounters changed into a ball of light that also floated into the bag. She turned back to Kal giving him a piercing glare, "You don't have a thing for sticking your dick into leather bags do you?"

Kal took a moment to get over his shock at the weird question while Ikuno covered her mouth trying not to laugh. "To be honest I've never thought about it before. So, no, I can't say as I do."

"Good, then you and I will get along just fine, unlike the last asshole who owned me. Call me if you need me!" she said before climbing into the bag herself. A moment later it laid flat against Ikuno's hand again as if empty.

Kal took the bag when Ikuno handed it to him, "Why would you give this to me? You found it."

Ikuno looked slightly embarrassed, "Because I already have one."

"Really? I've never seen it and you've never mentioned it."

"I keep it hidden, not from you, obviously. I just got into the habit of hiding it when I went out hunting and I don't keep much in it, only special items like my outfit I wore when I danced for you. I was going to mention it after that night but got a bit distracted and forgot about it."

Kal couldn't blame her as he smiled at the memory. After her dance, they had spent a good portion of the night making love, with her stopping partway through and disappearing behind the illusory black curtain again to remove the outfit. Instead of being upset that she had kept such a powerful item a secret, Kal took pride in making her forget about telling him. Then again, he didn't consider Ikuno's items as his own, even though she often did.

As Ikuno cast the finder spell again and they walked out of the little side room following it, Kal held up the leather pouch and called, "Catalog," the same way Ikuno had.

"Yes master?" said the ghostly sprite once she had appeared.

"First of all, my name is Kal."

"Understood, Master Kal."

"Second, what's your name? I'm not comfortable with calling you 'Catalog'."

"I don't have one, Master Kal. I am a magical construct whose purpose is to act as an interface and catalog for the items contained within me. I have no need of a name."

"I think we need to change that," said Kal.

_ "What were they doing in there?" asked one of the crabs as its friend came back, leaning its body away from the wall so its pincers were free._

_ "Playing in the trash," the dented one said rocking back and forth in an approximation of shaking its head._

_ "What are you guys talking about? It echoes in here!" came from the big room._

_ "Two legs are so strange, not only were they playing in our trash heap, but they were getting really excited about it too," the dented crab said as it began to insert itself into the wall again._

_ "Think they know something we don't?" said the other crab._

_ "Guys! You need to be louder I can't understand you!" came from the room below._

_ "Not likely, trash is trash. Goodnight," said the dented crab as it settled in._

_ "Goodnight."_

_ "Goodnight."_

_ "Guys?"_

The heat was oppressive as they walked into the chamber where Ikuno said that they would be meeting Silma. It had been getting hotter and hotter as the tunnel descended into the earth, nearly a quarter of Ikuno's horns were black already and Kal was on his second crystal from fire resistance rune glowing on his vambrace. As Ikuno had mentioned at the beginning of the trip, there were a number of small side tunnels that seemed to be drawing in fresh air, so far, Kal hadn't had to use his mask. In the last hour or so the wind direction in the tunnel had changed as it got warmer, blowing up from somewhere hotter and deeper. They also hadn't seen any more side passages in that time.

The source of the heat was a slow-moving river of lava several paces wide that split the chamber, appearing and disappearing under the walls to either side. On the far side of the cavern was another tunnel that sloped downward and out of sight. Kal guessed that it was also where the breeze with the fresh air was coming from, the molten rock in the middle of the chamber turning it into the almost fiery wind that was currently blowing in their faces. While the lava entering the chamber was bright orange the cooler air formed large jet-black areas on the surface that cracked as the liquid beneath shifted, creating streaks of glowing orange before vanishing under the opposite wall.

Ikuno looked over at Kal, "Last chance, Kal, are you sure you want to do this?"

He took a few long calming breaths, beating down the rising anxiety, before answering, "Call her," he said with more confidence than he felt.

Ikuno nodded and produced a small stone from a pouch on her belt, she pushed a tiny amount of magic into it. A small sigil on the front of the rock began to glow orange-red, nearly matching the color of the river in front of them. Ikuno tossed the stone into the molten river. "Now we wait," she said looking at Kal.

Ikuno had given Kal no real clues of what to expect as far as what Silma looked like. He had seen non-magical salamanders by ponds and had been assured that she looked nothing akin to the small, green and black-striped, lizard-like creatures.

At first, Kal was worried that Ikuno had accidentally summoned some lava monster as the river of molten rock bulged and overflowed for a moment before a yellow-orange glowing head appeared. Hands soon followed and grasped the side of the channel pulling herself up onto the stone floor of the chamber. Silma's presence heated up the lava that had been pushed over the banks and it ran back to join the river's flow looking more like water than melted stone.

As she stood up a blast of heat washed over Kal and Ikuno making them both shy away and hold their hands up in front of their faces, at the same time ratcheting up their protections to deal with the extreme temperature. Kal lowered his hand to see a feminine form with a long tail sprouting from her lower back. Silma's body looked to be translucent at the moment with a bright yellow column running through the middle of her body that seemed to be made of pure fire. The column quickly faded, and her body began to darken, turning opaque as it started to develop a crust that looked much like that on the molten rock before it exited the room, complete with cracks that showed the glowing body beneath.

Silma stood there for a few moments as the orange glow between rocky plates on her body faded to darkness. The salamander began moving stretching her arms legs and body out as skin-thick sheets of rock fell from her body to shatter on the floor next to her feet. She reached up behind her head and cracked the covering that had formed over her head and face, peeling it apart as she leaned over until it fell on its own to the floor, the paper-thin rock coming apart in tiny pieces just like the others. Looking up, Silma regarded Kal and Ikuno with curiosity.

Kal was doing the same in return, it was the first time he had seen a woman without hair and while it was an intriguing, he couldn't say it was doing much for him. Far more interesting was her skin, it was smooth to the point of shining and black as pitch, making her features difficult to discern. On her front, the only thing that broke up the darkness of her skin was the way the light from the lava river played across the contours of her body and the irises of her eyes that glowed orange as if lit by an inner flame. It wasn't until she approached him and Ikuno that he got a good idea of what her face looked like and realized that she had a pair of fair-sized breasts. With the areola being as dark as the rest of her he hadn't been sure, even though he had been certain he'd seen them when she was still glowing. Silma's tail swished back and forth across the stone in agitation when she saw who had summoned her. Kal noticed random bright orange spots that seemed to run up her back that glowed much like her eyes did.

"You dress and look the same, but your skin is different," said the salamander, eyeing up Ikuno.

"It's still me Silma, my life has gotten much better since the last time we met, as such my skin has turned back to the blue it's supposed to be."

Silma nodded and looked over at Kal, giving a quick sniff in his direction she turned back to Ikuno, "This one doesn't smell like the bandit fodder you've brought before."

"He's not, in fact, he's the one to needs to speak with you. I'm sorry to say that I won't be bringing any more bandits down here, I have no need to hunt them with Kal taking care of me."

"That's too bad, I enjoyed not having to go to the surface any more than necessary." She turned back to Kal, "What is it you wish to ask of me, human?"

Kal wasn't sure if she had intended to be insulting or it was just her abrasive tone, but it was difficult to not get annoyed by how she'd said 'human.' Kal set his pack on the floor and pulled out the box with the Felli's egg in it. After opening the box and unwrapping the egg he held it up for her. "I need you to incinerate this, the ashes will be used for something very important to me."

Silma frowned at the egg, "I've no desire to kill children, now take that thing away before it cooks," she snarled.

"It's unfertilized and never will become a chick, the harpy that gave it to me assured us of that. I would not be here if there was even a slight chance I was killing a child."

Silma's eyes darted over to Ikuno who nodded, "He tells the truth, he helped the harpy out and the egg was freely given as thanks."

"I've known Ikuno for many years and trust her," said the salamander as she stepped closer, "Which is the only reason you aren't on your way to being a pile of ash right now. What do you have to offer me for doing this?"

"Me," said Kal.

"Offering yourself up as my servant? Pleasant as that might be," she looked him up and down in appraisal, "I can hardly believe that."

Kal shook his head, "Not as a servant and only for the next few hours, we need to leave this area before the magic protecting us runs out."

Silma only took a few seconds to think about it, "I accept, open your mouth."

"Silma," said Ikuno in a warning tone, "He's my lover, not some bandit I dragged down here from the woods. Also, Kal, you are going to want to strip down before getting any of her saliva in your mouth, it works like Aradelle's and Bea's dust."

"You're telling me this now?" asked Kal as he began to strip.

"If she just kissed you like normal then I wouldn't worry about it, you've both agreed to what's about to happen, the compatibility spell kicks in and clears all the other effects leaving you hard for as long as she wants. If she insists on doing like the bandits and spitting into their mouths so she doesn't have to kiss them, I don't know how the compatibility spell will react."

Kal turned to Silma, "You were going to spit in my mouth? Seems a bit degrading don't you think? Granted, I can understand it with the bandits."

"Don't question me, human," she growled as Kal finished undressing down to his bracers. He still got a little flash of excitement seeing the look of pleasant surprise on the women's faces as he dropped his trousers, even though it was usually much larger for Ikuno. With his clothes packed away, he stood naked in front of Silma with his mouth open cringing slightly.

The salamander hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and covering his mouth with her own. Kal's arms wrapped around her slender frame as their tongues dueled. As expected he became painfully hard in a matter of moments, but the lust craze never happened.

Silma grabbed him by his dick and pulled him over to next to the lava river. Looking down at the molten rock still terrified Kal even if he didn't feel the heat thanks to Silma's powers.

She put an arm around his neck then released his prick and put the other around his back, Kal responded by putting his own arms around her waist and pulling her close. "Hold on tight. If we lose contact, you won't live long enough to grab ahold of me again," she said as her body began to heat up, gradually glowing brighter orange until the spots on her back and tail disappeared. Moments later she took on the translucent look from when she first emerged from the lava. Before her eyes shone with an inner fire, now they were like looking into the heart of the sun, somewhere he thought Silma would feel perfectly at home.

Kal nodded and Silma tipped them into the river of lava, the heat from her body reducing the density of the molten rock to that of water and her powerful tail propelling them into the river's depths.

Ikuno tensed as she felt Kal's moment of panic when he and Silma fell into the river. It took a couple more seconds for him to convince his brain that he was actually safe, then a few more for him to begin focusing on the more amorous portion of what he was doing. The oni was honestly amazed by the man's adaptability.

She sent soothing thoughts to the other girls since they had also felt Kal's burst of fear, which was more difficult with the weaker connection between them compared to the one they all had with Kal. The oni then packed up the egg in its box and stuffed it into Kal's pack before hoisting it onto her other shoulder and heading back up the tunnel to cooler areas.

Knowing Silma, it would be a couple of hours before she brought Kal back to her. Heaven help the salamander if for some reason she didn't.

Kal tried opening his eyes and found it was easier just to keep them shut, all he could see was the yellow-orange glow of the opaque liquid they were in. After that he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, trying desperately to ignore that he was somehow still breathing while diving in a river of magma. Just as he was finally convinced that he wasn't going to disappear in a flash of heat and smoke, Silma took a sharp turn away from the river and her swimming took on a more relaxed pace. The salamander's movement was also becoming a bit of an issue for Kal, when he pulled her close earlier it had trapped his cock in between them and her undulating, side-to-side swimming motion was rubbing him in some very pleasant ways.

Kal held on tight with one arm while bringing the other up and began running his hand up and down Silma's back while putting light kisses on her neck. Her swimming slowed even more as he moved up and began to nibble on her ear, an appreciative hum coming from her throat. Kal sucked on Silma's earlobe which must have been very sensitive for her as she jerked her head away with a playful squeal. Kal thought for a second that he was about to get a mouth full of magma when she pulled away but found that it seemed to stop right in front of his mouth without entering. He quickly realized that he was foolish for worrying, neither his nose nor ears felt like they were full of molten rock, this must be just another one of Silma's abilities. After pondering this for a moment he got an idea.

Now holding her with a hand on her back he brought the other one down to the base of her tail and applied pressure opposite of its movement, when she slowed he pressed his cheek next to hers and nodded vigorously. With a noise that sounded like a question, she came to a stop in the middle of the magma lake. Kal moved his hand from her tail to her thigh and pulled her leg around his waist, Silma doing the same a moment later with the other leg and wrapping her other arm around his neck. He rocked his hips forward and placed the tip of his cock at her entrance, a tiny bit at a time he pushed into her, giving her ample opportunity to pull away if she didn't want to do this. Finally, Silma gave a slight nod and Kal began to gradually slip into her sex. The salamander's pussy was dry but exceptionally smooth, offering little resistance as he sheathed himself inside her.

When he felt the tip of his cock brush against her cervix her hands came from his neck to his hips holding him in place. Once he was still she began propelling them through the magma once again, a tiny up and down motion added to the swishing of her tail through the melted stone.

The movement was doing a wonderful job of grinding Silma's clit into Kal's pubic bone and twice they stopped dead so Silma could hold Kal tightly with her arms and legs as her pussy convulsed around his cock. For Kal, the feelings were quite pleasant but not quite enough to get him off. After the second time they stopped she seemed to be giving herself a chance to recover from her last orgasm. Kal sought out her hand and held on with a death grip as he disengaged her legs and spun his body around, swimming through the magma as if it were water. He wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pried her legs back open, so he could lean forward and gently tease her clit with his lips.

As his cock brushed against her face she dove on it like a woman starved, taking him until he bumped the back of her throat and sucking powerfully as she pulled up. It wasn't long before he was bucking his hips up into her mouth on the verge of cumming when she suddenly stopped then pulled away. Kal groaned in frustration, the vibration from the noise nearly setting Silma off a third time. She took Kal's hand and spun him back around, this time facing away from her. Holding him tightly under his arms she sped off through the lava lake towards her destination as fast as her tail could manage.

Silma led Kal out onto what could be considered a beach where a gradual slope in the rock allowed them to put their feet down and walk out of the large magma pool they had just crossed.

Kal opened his eyes to find that even though he could see again, everything still seemed to be glowing.

"Don't let go yet," said Silma, the abrasive tone of her voice from before now gone. "My power protects you from getting damaged by the heat but doesn't prevent you from absorbing it. We need to move further away from the lake then we can molt and get rid of all of your excess heat."

Kal held out an arm and saw that it was his body that was glowing, even his vambraces were a bright yellow-orange. After swimming through magma for the last half-hour or more this was somehow scarier, somewhere in the back of his mind he thought that once they exited the lake he would be safe again. "Molt?" he asked.

"When I shed my skin earlier, it got rid of the extra heat so I could come and talk without setting you and Ikuno on fire. This time you will do it with me, after that you will be safe."

As they walked down the tunnel leading away from the magma pool it was strange to think that there was no magical light or darkvision, the tunnel was being lit up purely from the heat of their bodies. The salamander stopped where the tunnel widened slightly, Kal could feel cooler breezes coming through a couple of visible cracks in the wall and ceiling.

She turned and carefully put her arms around him making sure they were in contact the entire time. "Take off the things on your arms but don't lose hold of them or they will burst into flames," she said.

"Don't move until I do," said Silma once he was holding his bracers. Her body began to darken and Kal was only able to watch for a moment as the rocky crust formed on her body before his own sight was blocked by the molting process. It seemed to take a lot longer than when she had done it by herself but Kal just figured it was because it was happening to him and he had to stay still for so long. As they stood there quietly he could feel the heat being drawn from his body. A couple of minutes passed and Silma started moving, thin sheets of the rock like substance cracking and falling away from her. Kal started doing the same and after the last of the pieces fell to the floor from both him and his vambraces he looked down and saw that he was no longer glowing. As an added bonus he was also clean to the point of nearly shining… Kal looked again, something was wrong, he was too clean. With a gasp, he realized his arms, legs, chest, even his pubic hair, that he kept trimmed at Perra's request, were now all smooth as a baby's bottom, not a hair to be seen. With a sense of dread, he lifted a hand to his head but the cool air blowing across his scalp told him that was gone as well.

"I'd been growing mine out for two months before you and Ikuno stopped by. If I lose mine then you can lose yours," said Silma with a bemused expression.

"Fair enough," said Kal, "some warning would have been nice though."

"I didn't like you enough yet to warn you when we left Ikuno. By the time we got here, it didn't matter, it was this or wait nearly a full day for you to cool down."

Kal's eyes widened, "A day?"

"To go from my body temperature to yours without a pool to dunk you in? Yes." She said walking into the next chamber that appeared to be her living quarters. "Besides, it's a good look for you. Give you a nice long tail and some black skin with spots like me and you'd make a handsome male salamander."

"Umm… thank you?" Kal said wondering for a moment what it was with her and Ikuno wanting him to have jet-black skin all of a sudden. The room they were in was sparse but then he had sort of expected that. The chair and bed looked like they were made by an earth elemental with no signs of stonework but what really caught his eye was what they were covered with. "Mushrooms?"

Silma nodded, "Magmatic mushrooms, they grow out of the stone just above molten rock. Soft and extremely heat resistant."

Kal was still checking out the strange fibrous mushrooms when Silma quietly asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Back in the lake, why did you do that?"

"Umm… I thought that because of your nature that would be something you would like. Was I wrong?"

The salamander smiled, "No, you weren't wrong. I've just wondered for the longest time what it might be like to be with a male salamander. I think have a good idea now." She stepped up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "thank you for that, Kal."

Kal smiled, "I've been promoted from 'human'?"

"Yes, you have. For now, at least." She stepped over to her chair and knelt on the cushion of mushrooms, leaning on the back she relaxed a muscle that she had kept tense since Kal had first prodded her sex out in the lake. "I'm going to pretend you are a male salamander for a bit longer," she said pulling her tail off to the side in invitation.

As Kal slid into Silma's sex he noticed that now that they were both cooled off she was very wet, though it felt more oily than normal and the scent of her juices had a slight sulfur undertone. He had a feeling that going down on her later was going to be an interesting experience. He also noticed that even though he seemed slightly longer now than when they were back with Ikuno he still hadn't bumped into her cervix like before. Looking down and seeing that he was in the correct hole, though he planned on trying the other one later if she was interested, and seeing that she was enjoying herself he put it out of his mind. Kal picked up her tail and threw it over his shoulder as he grasped her by the hips and started to pick up speed, Silma's shrieks of pleasure bouncing off the walls of the small cavern.

Before he devoted all of his attention to the salamander girl, he sent an image to Ikuno of her moving up where it was much cooler and perhaps making camp for the night. She sent back that she was annoyed that she couldn't join them, though there was no real heat behind the sentiment, before telling him to have fun.

Kal decided to do just that and began slamming his hips forward, racing towards the release he was denied out in the lake. Burying himself in her pussy Kal emptied himself inside her, The feel of Kal's essence flowing into her body set Silma off for the third time that day and she screamed out her pleasure while her sex milked Kal for everything he could give.

With a little help from the strength rune, her tail was all muscle and heavier than it looked, he picked up the nearly unconscious salamander and flipped her over in her chair. "How about instead of a couple of hours we make a night of it?" he asked her as he slid back into her sex. Silma smiled and nodded, her eyes glowing brighter with a different kind of heat.

Ikuno wasn't really annoyed but she was horny now thinking about what Kal and Silma would be up to.

She set up wards to wake her if something dangerous came close. She wasn't terribly worried since Silma had explained long ago that she kept the tunnels around here clear of any animals, prey and predator alike. All things considered, everything short of a lava golem or a dragon was considered prey to the salamander.

Laying out her bedroll she thought about getting herself off before going to sleep and decided against it. Even though Silma kept the tunnels clear it was probably best not to tempt fate by filling them with her scent. Besides, if she needed it badly enough she knew Kal would make sure she was taken care of.

As she was about to nod off a thought came to her and she quickly dug out Kal's bag of holding.

After summoning the sprite, she told it of the purpose of their journey and asked if putting the egg in the bag would help preserve the magic inside it.

The sprite explained that everything that went into her came out in exactly the same condition, except sentient beings.

Once the egg was securely in the bag Ikuno laid her head down and went to sleep.

Gray clouds billowed around the oni as the scorched ground beneath her feet cracked and crumbled. It all felt so familiar, but she couldn't remember why, as though her memories were locked away somewhere.

Something was coming, she could feel it. It was searching for her. Fear flooded the oni and she crouched down, baring her claws and fangs while turning in every direction to face the oncoming threat which seemed to be coming from all sides.

Flickers of memories danced across her mind, standing stoic and unafraid in a variety of different poses for battle. She knew that those images were her and that she was supposed to be doing the things in those memories but could never grasp one long enough to glean anything from it.

A thunderous voice laughed at the oni, mocking her. "Look at how pathetic you've become."

The oni spun around and roared in defiance at the eyes lying just beyond the edge of the gray clouds, glowing with necromantic energy.

The voice laughed again at her display. "So puny, so sad, what are you going to do now that I've found you Ikuno?"

"Ikuno?... Ikuno!" the oni's memories came slamming back into her and she stood up straight with a snarl as the eyes looked on in confusion.

"What will I do?" she said holding out her hand, "this." The iron club appeared in her grip and Ikuno vanished at the same moment.

Lightning flashed in gray clouds and the cracked earth shook as the voice screamed in rage and frustration.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Scowling, Ikuno looked on as Silma and Kal went through the molting process again, she was bothered by last night's dream but that wasn't what was making her unhappy at the moment.

"What the hell happened to your hair?" the oni growled as they walked over to her.

Kal blushed and ran a hand over his bare scalp, "It's a side effect of cooling down so fast."

Silma nodded in agreement as she stepped up beside him, "It was this or wait a day there and a day back for him to cool down." The salamander held out her fist, Ikuno held her hand out and Silma dropped the stone the oni had used to summon her into it. "I won't complain if you don't wait as long to use that again, especially if you bring him back with you," she said with a smile. "Kal told me you were disappointed you couldn't join us. I'm sorry Ikuno, as beautiful as you are, I've never had any kind of desire for another woman."

Ikuno raised an eyebrow, "If the opportunity arose would you mind if he licked me while you rode him?"

"Hmm… no, I suppose not," said the salamander after a moment's thought.

Ikuno grinned, "Good, then a threesome with you and Kal isn't completely out of the picture. I'll warn you though, if that ever comes to pass and you start pawing my tits then you should expect the same treatment."

"Ladies? It's my dick and my face that you are talking about riding. I'd appreciate being a larger part of the conversation as more than just the handy cock and tongue," interrupted Kal.

Ikuno and Silma laughed as the oni pulled Kal's bag of holding out of his pack, "Ria," she called.

The image of the winged sprite appeared above the bag a few moments later. Ria nodded to Ikuno then looked around for Kal, "Hello Mas… What happened to your hair?!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening at Kal's new look. The young wizard's shoulders slumped as he sighed heavily.

"Ria," said Ikuno getting her attention, "we need the box with the egg in it."

The bag's avatar nodded and a mote of light sailed out of the pouch's opening down to the floor, turning into the container holding Felli's egg. The oni laid the bag on the ground and quickly retrieved the box's contents before handing it to Silma.

While Ikuno was taking care of the egg, Kal went over to his pack and began dressing. "Ria, could you get my staff as well, please?" he said after pulling his trousers on. Ria nodded and waited patiently as he pulled his shirt over his head and did up the top few fasteners. Kal looked at the floor by his feet then gave the sprite a questioning look.

"Hold out our hand," she said in response. Kal did as she asked and Ria sighed with exasperation, "Sideways, Master Kal, like you are about to hold onto a staff."

Kal turned his hand and a ball of light floated over from the bag, turning into his new staff as it touched his palm. "That's handy," he said. Picking up his cloak, he looked over to see Silma had put a hand on the top and bottom of the egg and a light show had started inside. Kal hadn't seen Ikuno punch a hole in the top with one of her claws but he could see sparks and embers occasionally escape from under the salamander's hand as the contents were turned into a fiery maelstrom that somehow lit the shell up without breaking it.

As the lights inside the shell faded, Ikuno looked down at Ria. "Could you store this, please?" she asked pointing at the egg still in Silma's hands.

"So long as you understand that it will come out just as hot as when it went in." Ikuno nodded and the sprite waved a hand, the egg vanishing into a speck of light and floating into the bag.

"This too," said Kal holding up his cloak, at the moment it was too warm to wear it. "Perhaps my pack as well," Kal hastily grabbed the box for the egg and stuffed into the pack before letting Ria take it. "What about yours Ikuno?"

"I'm good. I still have a couple of potions I want access to if needed." Kal and Ria gave the oni a confused look. "Ria, get out Kal's waterskin please." Understanding dawned on the sprite's face while Kal continued to look confused. A moment later Kal's entire pack with the waterskin attached to the side appeared on the floor near his feet.

"Oh, so things have to come out the same way they went in, you couldn't take a potion out of the pockets of Ikuno's pack if she needed them."

"That's correct Master Kal," she said.

"Well I don't have any potions to worry about," Kal dug through his pack and retrieved a few portions of rations wrapped in cloth then laid them out on the ground next to the waterskin. "Would you store all of these, please?"

"I'm liking you more and more Master Kal, someone who gets how to use me as more than a glorified footlocker or set of shelves," said Ria with a wave of her hand.

He smiled at the compliment and turned to Ikuno, "Are we ready to go?"

The oni nodded and Silma gave Kal a hug and a smoldering kiss before wrapping her arms around a slightly startled Ikuno. "Thank you for keeping your promise," she told the oni whose expression went from surprised to confused.

"Master Kal, I have a request before we go," Ria said as Kal picked up her bag. He was still having a difficult time wrapping his head around Ria and the bag being a single entity.

"What's that?"

The sprite's cheeks darkened slightly, "Could you have your salamander friend hold me upside down over that," she said pointing at the river of lava in the middle of the chamber.

"Why on earth would you want to do that?" he asked.

Ria began looking very uncomfortable, "If you are holding a coin and put your hand in me then leave the coin, I will automatically store it." Kal thought that was an odd and very precisely worded description but nodded his head in understanding. "My former master left some things in me that only he found to be of value, now that he is dead I'd like to be rid of them. Permanently."

Kal was about to ask what she could have that was only of value to her former master but then remembered the question she had asked right after he and Ikuno first found her. Ria hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment as Kal and Ikuno cringed, Silma just looked on in confusion.

Ikuno leaned over and whispered in Silma's ear. The salamander's eyes widened for a moment before she held out her hand to Kal, "I promise I will give her back to you."

With her body glowing bright orange, Silma gave a final wave before diving smoothly into the river of lava. Ikuno and Kal, with Ria sitting on his shoulder, turned and headed back the way they had come the previous day.

"You must have made quite the impression, she's never been that affectionate with me before. Then again all I'd brought down here before were ruffians. Probably not the best of men for impressing her," said Ikuno.

"We certainly did enjoy ourselves last night, I think she was most impressed that I started while we were still swimming there."

"Wait, you actually had sex with her in the lava?"

Kal nodded, "I thought it might be something she would enjoy, it turned out to be a really good idea from how she acted towards me afterward. Silma said it was close to how she imagined making love with a male salamander."

"I must applaud your initiative, I don't think I would have been able to do the same in your situation," the oni said with a shudder. "The funny part is I have actually made love in a column of flame before, but we were both well protected and he was a pyromancer. Somehow lava seems far scarier, viscous, soupy, and probably quite a bit hotter than what I did."

"It wasn't that viscous but Silma said that was because she heated it up, so it was easier to move through."

"So, it was hotter than normal? You honestly amaze me sometimes, Kal," said Ikuno shaking her head.

"Enough about my night, did anything interesting happen out here?" Kal looked over and saw Ikuno's scowl, "Uh oh," he said.

"Uh oh, is right," responded the oni and proceeded to tell him about her dream. "I slept the rest of the night with my club in my hand, he must have stopped attacking because at some point I let go of it in my sleep and found it a little way away when I woke up in the morning. I'm absolutely worthless at Astral school spells but I guess I'm going to have to figure a few out to protect myself from whoever this is."

"Still no clues as to the identity?"

"Sadly no, in fact, I have more questions than answers now. The voice sounded human, but all of the human wizards I knew before coming here should be long dead. Even if they did something to extend their lives they would be old and frail and judging by the voice it was neither. More confusing was that it appeared to be a necromancer, I'm guessing the same one that sent the wolf after me. If that's the case, then he must be getting help from an astral mage to attack me like this, the two affinities are complete opposites and don't work well together."

"Is there a chance it could be an elf?"

Ikuno shook her head, "First, elves have a lilt to their voice from learning the elven language first and I didn't hear any of that. Second, elves have a very strong connection with nature and one becoming a necromancer is unheard of. I'm not saying it's impossible, just extremely unlikely."

"You said you couldn't think of any wizards you've pissed off enough to want to kill you?" asked Kal.

"None that would still be alive."

"Is there a chance the ice mage survived?"

Ikuno shook her head again, "None. Her body was… let's just say she was very dead when her brother told me to leave."

"Brother?"

The oni sighed, "He was the pyromancer I was talking about earlier. He and I were lovers for a couple of years and it made her insanely jealous. Unfortunately, I didn't find that out until she tried to kill me, same as with her being an ice mage."

"Brother and sister, pyromancer and… what is an ice mage called?"

"Cryomancer," came the unexpected response from Ria, "Masters of Entropy affinity spells."

"Entropy, why does that word sound so familiar? Can you tell me anything else about this entropy school?" asked Kal.

"Sorry no, I only remember things from when I'm active, I had some chalk one of my masters needed and he forgot to dismiss me afterward. It just so happened that he was making a list of all the different types of mages and their related affinities. I thought it was interesting, so I stuck around and watched," said the sprite.

"Any other interesting tidbits in there that you can remember? Not necessarily about Entropy."

"Anything said or events that happened which may have been of personal importance to my former masters were scrubbed from my memory upon you taking ownership of me. Things of general or low importance that I witnessed will be recalled based upon hearing key words."

"You confuse me Ria. Sometimes you act so alive and others you seem so mechanical, like you just read all of that out of a book," said Kal.

"My apologies Master Kal, since I have displeased you I will not speak in such a manner any longer." Ria jumped off Kal's shoulder and flew down to the bag hanging from his belt before disappearing.

Ikuno laughed while Kal grumbled about how that wasn't what he meant as he untied the bag and held it up, "Ria," he called.

"Yes, Master Kal?" said the sprite after appearing a few moments later, Kal thought her tone seemed a bit cooler than normal.

"I said that you confused me, not that you displeased me. If you wish to return to the bag you are welcome to do so. However, I would appreciate your company and whatever input you can provide concerning what is going on with Ikuno."

Ria gave him a skeptical look, "You want my company?"

"Yes?" Kal wasn't sure if he had said something wrong.

"You're a strange one, not many in my past have treated me as more than a thing," she said flying back to Kal's shoulder as he returned the bag to his belt.

"Back to the brother and sister?" said Kal looking back at Ikuno.

"Azrin and Midora, they had a hold on the side of a volcano just above the snow line. Azrin and I met by chance as he was down in a local town, purchasing supplies that would be delivered weekly over the next month. We chatted for a bit over a few mugs of ale then we went up to our rooms. Separate rooms mind you, though even then I wouldn't have minded taking him for a tumble. The locals were tolerant of me as long as I didn't make a fuss and my coin was good but tripping a man into bed was proving difficult.

"He went back to his hold and I wandered around the town for a bit longer until someone's brat got mauled by a dog and the mother tried to blame it on me. Thankfully the kid wasn't dead yet, after explaining that I was a magic user the constable escorted me to the woman's house where I healed the boy. The mother retracted her story but then spit on me, the woman who just saved her son's life, saying that mongrels like me weren't wanted in this town.

"The constable told me not to worry about her too much, but the story had already spread, and the damage was done. My coin was no good anymore and people in the streets gave me a wide berth. When I returned to the inn I discovered the merchant delivering supplies to Azrin's hold was looking for porters. I figured that was as good of an excuse as any to get out of town and make a little bit of money doing it. Upon speaking with the merchant, it turned out he cared more about a strong back than whether I was human or not. It did make him nervous when I asked him to bring my pay along with until I explained that I knew Azrin and was planning on staying at the hold once we were done. I had already decided that I was going to strike out from there even if he turned me away.

"The couple of servants Azrin and Midora had thought I was joking at first when I asked to speak to the Lord of the Hold once we were finished unloading. Thankfully, Azrin welcomed me with open arms into his home and a few days later into his bed. Midora took an immediate disliking to me which got worse once her brother and I started sleeping together. Over the next couple of years, things were wonderful between Azrin and I. We talked in depth about his and my studies of magic and he constantly teased me about not settling on a specific school or affinity to focus on and study, as he had with pyromancy. Sadly, things between him and his sister got worse the longer I stayed, numerous times I heard them arguing and Midora was none too kind in her descriptions of me. I even offered to leave more than once after those arguments but each time Azrin convinced me to stay. Had I known what was going to happen I would have left even if he had gotten on his knees and begged me not to go," said Ikuno, sadness tinging her voice.

"On one of Azrin's trips for their monthly supplies I was practicing in a large arena him and his sister had carved into the mountain for just that purpose. Midora waited until she thought her brother was gone and came to the arena to confront me, I didn't know I was under attack until I was encased in a block of ice and couldn't breathe. Luckily for me summoning my iron club displaces whatever is around it and with the extra strength I was able to break free…"

"Why won't you just fucking die, you freak!" screamed Midora as a hail of ice spikes crashed against Ikuno's magic shield. The oni had dismissed her club almost immediately, even though she could throw it, the weapon wasn't very good for dealing with enemies at range. Walls of ice formed on either side of her and Ikuno dove forward into a roll as they came together and shattered. Even as she regained her feet she had to throw herself to the side as the ice mage turned the rubble of the shattered walls into a large spike that came at her from behind. Ikuno sprinted to the other side of the arena before Midora could launch another attack.

"Why are you doing this Midora?" the oni called out. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"You're stealing my brother away from me you whore!" she yelled as the pile of ice turned into snow and swirled around to either side of the blue woman, "I'm the only woman he needs! That he will ever need!" Midora raised her arms in a cross in front of her and spikes appeared from the clouds of snow crossing where the oni had been standing a moment before.

Ikuno had expected the attack and jumped at the last moment, landing just behind the spikes she reached up and snapped off both pointed tips. With a flick of the wrist, one went spinning up into the air as she launched the other back at the ice mage like a javelin. Plucking the first one out of the air, with a quick mental thanks to a street performer from her homeland who taught her how to juggle, Ikuno sent it flying at her opponent right behind the first.

Since she was using ice against an ice mage, Ikuno hadn't expected much of a result. She also wasn't really trying to kill the woman out of respect for her brother and aimed slightly off to the side. The first spike dissolving into snow was expected but the oni couldn't hide her surprise when the second caught Midora in the arm, spinning the woman around as she leaned over and grabbed the wound with a scream. Ikuno could have sworn the mage had actually moved into the path of the projectile.

"Listen, if you want me gone I'll pack my stuff and be out of here within the hour. There's no point in this nonsense."

The laughter coming from the ice mage as she straightened up bordered on maniacal. "No, you will die here. I won't give him some reason to run off after your blue pussy when he can have mine any time he wants. You will die here, and he will hate you for the rest of his life once he finds out you attacked me out of jealousy." She pulled her hand away from the bloody gash on her arm and held it up, "and now I have the proof that you attacked me." She brought the other hand up and a huge wall of ice began forming in front of Ikuno.

The oni shook her head, seeing already that she wouldn't be able to go around or over this particular barrier, leaving her only one option. "It's really too bad," she said quietly as she summoned her iron club, "a brother-sister threesome would have been sexy as hell."

Midora sent the thick sheet of ice forward, trying to crush the oni against the stone behind her. The center of the ice suddenly exploded outward showering the mage with snow and bits of her wall. When the mage could see again the oni stood there calmly holding a spell out towards her, a large spiked club laying on the ground next to her feet.

"Please don't," said Ikuno with a deep sadness that came from knowing her words were falling on deaf ears.

The ice mage screamed in rage and formed a large sickle of ice, sending it flying at the oni. Ikuno had her spell at the ready and the crescent of energy moved far faster than the ice. The blade of magic sliced clean through Midori's spell and on into the woman behind it. The cryomancer's sickle fell to the floor and shattered, tiny bits of ice sliding into Ikuno's feet as she closed her eyes before her spell struck, holding them closed until she was certain that the mage had passed. It was a gruesome thing to do to a living being, but undeniably effective.

"Midora!" came Azrin's voice from the entrance to the arena. "No, no, no, no!" he yelled as he came skidding on his knees next to his sister's head and leaned over the upper half of her body sobbing her name over and over.

"I'm sorry Azrin, but she att…"

"Leave," he said without looking up, his voice choked with grief, "get your things and get out. The servant who came and got me told me she attacked you first but that didn't mean you had to kill her. If I ever see you again I swear I will do whatever necessary to see you dead at my feet. Leave."

Ikuno opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. No, she hadn't needed to take Midora's life, however, she had learned early on in her travels that it was unwise to leave people alive who had tried to kill you. Two years thinking about that particular mistake while rebuilding her lifeforce enough make a new body was a hard lesson.

With a sigh the oni turned and walked out of the arena, leaving her former lover to mourn his sister.

"After that, I packed up and left," said Ikuno before taking a deep steadying breath.

"I can understand why you didn't want to talk about it before." Kal reached out and took her hand bringing it to his lips and kissing the back before giving it a small squeeze and letting go. The difference in their heights didn't make walking hand in hand feasible.

Ikuno smiled down at him, appreciative of the gesture. "As I said before that happened ages ago. Knowing how long you humans live he would have died about the time that I came to live here."

"That statement is false," said Ria from Kal's shoulder.

Ikuno and Kal both stopped dead and looked at the sprite.

"You mean he isn't dead?" asked Ikuno.

"No, that part was true, he most certainly died. It was the timeframe that was false, he must have been still been alive when you came to live here. Wherever here is."

Ikuno breathed a sigh of relief, her and Kal started walking again as Kal looked over at Ria. "You can tell if someone is lying even if they don't know they are lying?"

"Most times," said the bag's avatar, "For instance, you get hurt and you send Ikuno to get a potion from me I can determine that you did request the potion and give it to her. Now add someone else in who lies and tells Ikuno that you were hurt but is just trying to get the potion. I can still tell what she is saying is false even though she didn't know it, which makes it very useful. Just so we're clear, normally I wouldn't have said anything, but you specifically asked for my input."

"I appreciate that, even if you did tell us in a way that scared the hell out of me for a minute," said Ikuno. "It actually makes me feel a bit better to know that Azrin lived to a ripe old age."

Seeing the smile on Ikuno's face, Ria decided to keep to herself that something was wrong with what the oni had just said.

Wood clacked against wood in Ikuno and Kal's latest exchange out in the clearing in front of the oni's cave. Kal's staff felt extraordinarily light even though when it contacted something like the wooden batons Ikuno was using it seemed to hit with the force of something far heavier.

"I must say you are surprisingly good with that, Kal," said the oni, stepping back.

He looked at the staff in his hand, "It's probably the closest thing to a real weapon I have any experience with. I always took a walking stick with me when I would check my fur traps in the winter. It's kind of necessary when you need to beat off some animal who has found an easy meal in one of your snares. Last year, after the incident with Perra's brother, I started practicing with it more as a weapon as I checked my trap runs."

"Careful what you call a 'real weapon', staves can be very effective in both offense and defense. Your practice seems to have paid off, though you should have mentioned it earlier," she said and held the ends of the batons together where they fused into a staff of her own. "We could have worked on this as well as your other training."

Kal shook his head, "I thought about it, but I wanted to focus on the hand-to-hand part before throwing anything else into the mix."

"Speaking of which," Ikuno looked over towards the cave entrance and the small bag with a ghostly sprite sitting on it. "Ria could you store this please?" she said tossing the staff in her direction. With a wave, the oni's staff turned into a mote of light and flew into the mouth of the bag as the sprite held it open. Kal was about to do the same until Ria held up a hand and stopped him.

"One moment, Master Kal. That staff belonged to a party member of my former master. Since you appear to be planning on using it as a weapon, would you like to know more about it?"

Kal's eyes lit up, "By all means."

"My former master identified it as 'Everyman's Polearm'" said Ria.

"Polearm?" asked Kal.

"'Sword on a stick' as I heard one soldier call them," quipped Ikuno. "However, polearms are more than that and include halberds, spears, and tridents."

Ria nodded, "The gold cap is the bottom of the staff and the platinum one will change into whatever polearm you might need. All you have to do is speak the name of the weapon you are wanting."

Kal looked at the staff in his hand with new appreciation. He was unfamiliar with the terms 'halberd' or 'trident' but he knew what a spear was. "Spear," he said to the staff and the wood immediately lengthened and the platinum tip formed into a spear point.

"Nice," said Ikuno.

Kal was decidedly impressed. "Halberd," he said and to everyone's confusion, it returned to a staff.

"What on earth?" said Ria.

Kal looked sheepish for a moment, "Um… does it matter that I don't know what a halberd is?"

"May I?" asked Ikuno holding out her hand. Kal handed it to her golden end first, she flipped the platinum end upward before saying, "Halberd." The staff again lengthened and the platinum this time formed into a small, thin, battleax on the end with a hook sticking out the other side and a spearhead coming out the top. "Apparently it does." Looking over at Ria she asked, "Is there a limit to the number of times it can change?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Watch carefully, Kal," said the oni before launching into a long list of the different polearms she knew about and how they were used.

"I'm not going to remember half of those, you know that, right?" said Kal as he took his staff back. "Some of those I'm not even sure I can say properly."

"Perhaps I did overcomplicate things a bit since it seems to react more to what I was visualizing than preset patterns. Just remember, spear, blade, axe, hammer, hook, and pike. Any combination of those should cover just about anything you may need. For now, I'd suggest sticking with the staff; work with what you already know."

Kal nodded and played around with the staff's abilities for a few more minutes before tossing it to Ria for safekeeping.

Squaring off in front of Ikuno he brought his hands up and set his legs for a round of sparring with the oni.

His eyes glowed blue and a slight smile played across his lips.

"Ready."

"Not sure what the hell you're so damn happy about," grumbled Ikuno as she helped Kal onto her bed, his healing rune glowing brightly to repair what was most likely a cracked rib.

"I may have lost the war, but I at least won that fight," he said reaching across with his other hand to gingerly press on the injured area under his arm. His magic sight told him he still had a couple of minutes to go.

"Really? You didn't even manage to knock me down," said the oni. Inwardly, she had to give the man credit. He had lifted his arm and stepped into one of her kicks instead of just blocking it, taking a hard hit to the ribs but at the same time trapping her leg against his body. Kal had then used that to pull her forward as he landed a powerful straight kick of his own on her midriff. He'd collapsed holding his ribs immediately afterward, but his hit had been enough to stagger Ikuno, a first in their sparring matches. She told herself that she was withholding praise because she didn't want him to get a big head about it. However, deep down she knew that taking a hit like that from someone comparatively new to martial arts had hurt her pride, just a little.

"You said Gerda is going to be here with Sandy tomorrow?" Ikuno asked, happy to change the subject.

Kal sat up on the bed, "That's what it sounded like, which may be a good thing since I'm still not allowed back onto the farm yet," he said with mild annoyance, it was his farm and his home after all. "Also, I've been informed that we are getting some hired hands to help Perra out with me being gone so much."

Ikuno stopped putting things together for their midday meal and looked over at him, "That seems unfair of her, it's not like you are over here all the time."

Kal waved it off, "I think it's her monthlies talking more than anything, however, she does have a good point. Having some hired hands would free up more of my time so I could come to visit you, 'Dell, Bea, and Gerda more often, along with focusing more on my studies and training. Speaking of which, I'm going to go grab Ria from outside then spend some time in the library. I want to learn as much as I can about this Entropy she mentioned, I have a feeling it's something important."

"I'll keep working on lunch then just be sure you don't disturb any of my equipment back there, your ink should be ready to mix sometime tomorrow."

Kal nodded and looked over at the counter filled with glass tubes and jars tucked into the back corner of her library. She had explained to him the basic concepts of distilling things in order to extract their essence or purify them saying that as he got further into the runesmithing book it would become absolutely necessary when making high-quality inks, but this was the first time he had actually seen it done. In this case, she was just washing the ashes from Felli's egg repeatedly with pure water and alcohol to remove what she called 'volatile impurities' then letting the liquid distill off slowly according to the instructions in the book. Beneath the round flask with the ashes was a magic candle that would never go out until a command was spoken.

Once they got back from Silma's, Ikuno had shown Kal the hidden compartment in the bottom back corner of one of her bookshelves where she kept her own bag of holding. She had warned him that the magical leather pouch had been the property of one of the emperor's viziers back in her homeland and had developed a snobby attitude during that time. Worse yet the bag hated that he had been given to someone who wasn't of noble blood. Ikuno had warned him that he was a bit of an ass, after meeting the bag's avatar Kal had to admit that she was correct.

Based upon his experience with Ria, Kal had expected a male fairy to emerge when Ikuno held up the bag and called out "Dai." Instead, the ghostly image was greener and depicted a small man sitting cross-legged on a cloud. The little man was bald except for a braided pony-tail that sprouted from the back of his head and hung halfway down his back, he also had a large moustache with sides that touched his chin. Dai's chest was bare, but he wore a vest that seemed to sparkle as the light hit it, accompanied by pants that were so puffy Kal had a hard time not laughing when he saw them.

Despite the bag's ugly disposition, he retrieved Ikuno's alchemy table with all of the glassware she needed, though not without a plethora of snide comments accompanying each action.

Ikuno dismissed him with a scowl and looked over at Kal, "Trade?"

"Hells no."

"Damn."

Kal spent some time poring over books looking for something about Entropy or Cryomancers but came up empty after the first few. Ikuno coming over to wash the ashes again brought his mind to more pressing matters: his first true runes that would go on his skin. Ikuno guessed that they might have enough for three runes once everything was mixed together, Kal now had to decide what those were going to be.

His first idea had been the three that he used the most, Healing, Strength and Haste. However, the more he thought about it the more he thought some prevention or protection spells might be more useful. In the end, he settled on cure poison after a brief discussion with Ikuno about some of the worst hazards facing adventurers. Later on, he decided that cure disease would be his third, though his reasons were more personal.

Cure poison was already in the runesmithing book and just needed some improving before it was ready. Cure disease, on the other hand, was not and he had to adapt the spell from its drawn form to one that could go on his skin. His experience with the much more difficult featherfall spell proved invaluable as it only took a few hours to come up with a finished product. Testing it once he had it on a strip of leather was unpleasant but necessary.

"What's this going to do again?" he asked Ikuno as she reviewed the spell that would give him a magical disease.

"Make a bunch of itchy nasty boils all over your body," said Ikuno without looking up. Kal groaned and the oni threw a sharp look at him. "First, I've never used this spell before, so you need to keep quiet and let me concentrate so I don't mess anything up. Second, I'm taking time away from figuring out how to protect myself from being attacked again to help you with this, so a little more appreciation would be nice. Now strip, if your rune doesn't work you are going to end up with whatever's in the boils all over your clothes."

Feeling properly guilty, and slightly grossed out, Kal started removing his clothing and setting it on her stone chair. He had good reason to feel guilty. Yesterday evening after they had gotten home, and she had set up her lab, Ikuno had been almost desperate for Kal. Sadly, they didn't get to fall asleep in each other's arms like usual after making love late at night. Instead, Ikuno had gotten up and summoned her club then secured it to her hand with a strip of cloth before stating that she would be sleeping in the chair, so she didn't need to worry about rolling over and hitting him with the weapon. Between Ikuno, Perra and even his night with Silma it was the first time in a while that he had fallen asleep without someone next to him, he didn't like it one bit.

"Ready?" she asked.

Kal stood in the middle of the room, naked and holding the strip of leather with the rune on it. He took a deep breath and nodded.

It was a low-level spell that only took a few seconds to cast. Quickly enough that the spoken part didn't get the chance to take on the hollow, echoing voice he had heard from Ikuno before. Once she drew it's accompanying rune and activated it, Kal immediately began to feel the effects.

"Holy…" he whispered looking down at his arms as burning, itchy, red welts began to form. A few of the welts had already started to blister and fill with clear fluid when Kal activated his rune while saying "That's enough of that." The welts immediately stopped growing but the irritated skin was still burning and itching. With a quick motion of his fingers, the vambrace with the healing rune floated over to him, within a few seconds the discomfort was gone, his skin once again pristine and unblemished. Too pristine, he was reminded as he ran a hand over his perfectly smooth scalp with a frown.

"Ikuno…" he began to ask.

"No, I don't. However, the apothecary's wife should have what I need to make a salve that will grow it out again, I'll make you a list to take with you tomorrow. With luck, you will have a full head of hair again before Gerda and Sandy show up. Also, I'd like to make love to you while seeing your face again."

Kal gave her a questioning look, "Is that why you were so insistent on me taking you from behind when we got back?" Ikuno nodded. "I'm not looking forward to going into town tomorrow looking like this, but I'll be happy to have hair again," said Kal sighing.

"Me too. Just so you know, there'll be no playing around tonight, seeing you covered in welts and boils was a pretty big turn off."

Kal groaned.

Kal had never gone straight to town from Ikuno's before but he knew the area around Telsin well enough that it wasn't an issue. He came out on the road just south of the village and after flipping the hood of his cloak up, he quickly made his way to Master Jurien's and Lady Nina's.

Ikuno had been correct that Lady Nina had all of the ingredients needed for the salve. What Ikuno hadn't mentioned was that she had nimbly removed his coin-purse from his belt during a heated goodbye kiss.

"There you are Master Kal," said the salve maker placing a small jar sealed with wax on the counter. "Some of those are pretty rare ingredients so that'll be four silver."

Kal nodded and reached for his money pouch only to find it missing. He spent a few moments patting himself down in a panic wondering if he had lost it in the woods. Finally, he gave up and gave a pleading look to Jurien and Nina. "Could I bring payment by in a couple of days? I'll even throw in an extra silver."

Jurien raised an eyebrow, "Ya don't live too far from here I imagine you could run home and be back in an hour, faster if ya used your magic."

Kal fidgeted, "Perra is a bit upset with me right now, I'm not really welcome there at the moment."

Jurien and Nina both stared slack-jawed at the young wizard. Suddenly Jurien howled with laughter, leaning over the counter and pounding it with his fist.

Nina, on the other hand, looked aghast, "Good heavens, boy what did you do to her?"

"Went on a trip and left her to take care of the farm just as she was coming into her monthlies, with luck I'll be able to come home in a few days."

Jurien had nearly composed himself before erupting into another fit of laughter when he heard what Kal had said, this time dropping to his knees and holding his stomach.

Nina threw a half-hearted kick at her husband, which only made him laugh harder, "Stop it, you… What is it you're needing the salve for that you can't wait a few days?"

"Do I have to?"

"Aye we don't work on credit very often I want to know it's for a good reason," she said. Jurien was just peeking over the edge of the counter.

Kal sighed and flipped his hood back.

With a loud thump, Jurien fell over wheezing unable to hold himself upright any longer.

Nina's mouth was scrunched up in an effort to not join her husband. "You take the salve, we'll see you in a couple of days," she said pushing the jar across the counter.

Kal flipped his hood back up and quickly grabbed the jar before bolting out the door, the howling laughter of the apothecary and his wife chasing him all the way back to the forest edge.

"I still can't believe you stole my coin-purse," Kal grumbled as Ikuno carefully painted the salve onto his head with a small brush trying to remember exactly where his hairline had been.

The oni smiled, "Call it payment for taking me away from trying to protect myself from another attack these last couple of days. I'm not looking forward to sleeping in the chair again tonight."

Kal's shoulders slumped as guilt washed over him again. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Ikuno felt the intense guilt he was feeling through the bond and walked around in front of him. Kneeling down she put her arms around him, "No, I'm sorry. I took that too far. I only meant to tease you a bit, not to actually make you feel bad. I won't bring it up again, I promise."

Kal sighed as she pulled away, "No, you're right I should be letting you… Ikuno?" The oni had a strange look on her face like trying to remember something that was just out of her grasp.

Suddenly her face lit up, "Kal!"

"What?" he said, only slightly startled by her outburst.

"Do you remember what Silma told me before we left?" She was so excited Kal was wondering if she was about to burst.

"Something about keeping a promise?"

"Yes! I just remembered what that promise was!"

"Aaaaand?"

Ikuno's grin took up her entire face, "You're going to be a daddy again!" she said laughing.

"What?!"

"I promised her a long time ago that one day I would bring her a man worth breeding with. If she said that I kept my promise…?" Ikuno let the question hang in the air.

"Then I was that man," finished Kal, smiling. "I wonder why she didn't mention anything to me before we left?"

"She probably didn't see the need, remember that fathers don't factor highly into monster girl societies and she knew you were already with me," she said as she stood and returned to coating Kal's head with the salve.

"I must say, this is a bit of a shock. What do you know about salamander pregnancies?"

"Not a damn thing, to be honest. We never talked about it and there isn't much literature on them. I imagine that living in magma makes them very hard to study, even for wizards."

"Sounds like we may need to plan another trip down there in a few months."

"I'm liking that idea, maybe then you will be far enough along with your geomancy that you could make a new path to her home that doesn't involve losing all of your hair." Ikuno made a few more strokes with the brush, "Done."

"What now?"

"Do you want me to do it, or do you want to?"

"You? I suppose?"

"Then you need to take off the strength and healing bracer. You can't use either while the salve is working."

"What? Why?" he said as he undid the laces on the vambrace. The moment he set it on the floor glowing rings formed around his wrists, holding them in place. "Hey! What the!"

"With your strength rune you could easily break these, and you are going to want to break them in a second. Because this is going to itch… a lot."

"Oh, fuck."

After Kal was done trying to madly scratch the skin off his head Ikuno produced a small set of shears and trimmed him up so he looked like he was mostly back to normal.

"What about…" he looked down at his groin.

"Leave it, I'm sure Perra will appreciate it," said Ikuno as she was about to put the remainder of the salve up onto an empty spot on the bookshelves. She hesitated for a moment before calling out, "Ria."

The little sprite appeared next to the bag tied to Kal's belt and quickly flitted up to his shoulder. "Yes, Ikuno?"

"Hold on to this please, it won't go bad if it's with you," she said holding out the jar.

The sprite waved her and stopped as if frozen while the jar turned into a speck of light and found its way into the pouch. Leaning over Ria whispered in Kal's ear, "Have you not been taking care of her? I can smell her need from here."

Kal smiled, "It's okay, I can too. Be careful, she has very good hearing," he said seeing the look on Ikuno's face.

"Hey now," the oni huffed, "Gerda and Sandy are almost here and you know how we all got when you gave Bea a daughter. On top of that, I just found out you got Silma pregnant. I can't help it if all this has gotten me a bit excited." Her look turned predatory, "Sandy should feel lucky I haven't drained you dry because I certainly want to right now."

Ria turned to Kal, "You knocked up the salamander? Niiice. Bea? Sandy? Gerda? How many women do you have?"

"Ikuno, Aradelle, Bea, Gerda, and Perra are all mine. Silma is just a friend and Sandy is coming because she wants a kid and Gerda convinced her that she could trust me and I wouldn't hurt her or her sisters."

"Seems a little paranoid to me," said the sprite.

"Gerda and Sandy are rock golems. They were hunted a while back for their eyes making them very distrustful of humans," said Ikuno. "I keep telling Kal he should try to bond with Gerda's sisters, but he isn't going for it."

"I think I have quite enough women to keep up with, thank you," said Kal.

"I don't understand," said Ria, "why should he bond these sisters?"

Ikuno thought for a moment, "Sorry for bringing up something unpleasant Ria. That stuff you dropped into the lava before we left Silma? If I weren't bonded to Kal I would have wanted that," she said pointing to her mouth, "desperately."

The sprite cringed, "Ewww."

"Not to me, I love the taste, like most monster girls. However, my being bonded to Kal keeps me from wanting seed from any other man. Since the hunters used the scent of their seed to trap and kill the golems I think he should make a bond with Gerda's sisters as a means of protection."

Ria turned back to Kal, "She seems to have a good point."

Ikuno cackled in triumph as Kal rolled his eyes, "Fine, if it happens I'll accept it, will that make you two happy?"

"By the way Ria, if Kal ever decides to jerk off in you. I want it," said Ikuno studying the sprite intently.

Ria shrugged, "No problem."

Kal started laughing as Ikuno's face fell in disbelief, that was not the reaction she had been expecting. Ria looked between the two in confusion.

Kal spoke first, "I think she was trying to tease you Ria. After all, a few seconds ago, you were saying 'ewww' at the idea of having a man's seed inside of you."

"Ohhh…" said the sprite, "no, the seed wasn't the problem, it was the man it belonged to. My former master was a pig of a man. The thing I hated the most about him was that he could have had his choice of women. He was fit and fairly handsome but was a complete lecher. More than once he got kicked out of an inn for leering at the women and jerking off under the table when more often he could have gotten a piece of ass if he'd just walked up to one and treated one of them nicely. Believe me Ikuno, that asshole's cum didn't deserve to go anywhere in your body."

"Magic chalk, black tallow candle, and a book on summoning. Any bets he was trying to summon and bind a succubus?" asked the oni.

Kal chuckled, "I don't gamble when I know I'm going to lose."

"I can't answer that," said Ria, shrugging. "Which probably means you are correct. I may have gotten lucky he got killed when he did, spending the rest of eternity on the plane of lust would not have been fun."

"It certainly sounds interesting," said Kal. He immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say from the looks he was getting from the women.

"You'll have to forgive him," Ikuno said to Ria, "He hasn't learned about the different planes and has no clue what he just said."

"Obviously," the sprite said with a smirk.

"Mind telling me what I'm missing here?" Kal tried and failed to hide the exasperation in his voice.

"There are two planes of lust, one hedonistic and one demonic. Succubi come from the demonic one and are usually desperate to get here however they can. Unfortunately, they need to consume lifeforce to maintain their presence here or they get dragged back to the plane of lust," explained Ikuno.

"So, they eat souls just to stay here? Why?"

"Lifeforce, not souls, they're two different things. As for the 'why?' because it's the plane of lust, not satisfaction."

It took a moment for that to sink in for Kal, "If I'm understanding you correctly, they are horny all the time but can never get off?"

Ikuno and nodded, "Not just horny as you know it but lust that would drive you to stick your dick into any warm wet hole you could find."

"What do they do? Go around raping each other all the time?"

Ikuno chuckled, "You have a hard time finding a hole that wouldn't happily accept you." Ikuno cleared her throat, "Female or male."

"Welp, that settles it, no plane of lust for me. I prefer the asses I'm inside to have two tits and a pussy included."

Ikuno smiled, "For which, I'm very grateful."

"You seem to know a lot about the plane of lust," Ria piped in, "did you go there?"

"Me? No, I've never left this plane unless you count the dreams I've been having. I have met a few succubi though, they make good livings at whorehouses in bigger cities. They have more of a grazing approach, taking a little from each of their clients instead of eating them whole, the customer just has to wait a week or so to come back so their lifeforce could regenerate. Rumor had it that some older men at the end of their lives pay good money to leave the world that way, but I could never get any of the girls to confirm it.

"I thought only your lifeforce regenerated because of your shrine."

Ikuno shook her head, "Most humans can lose about half of theirs and still regenerate it but that takes a long time. With as little as the succubi take I could have visited them daily, maybe more."

"You were a customer?" asked Kal.

"Yup, and I'm warning you right now, Kal, stay away from them," she said looking serious all of a sudden.

"I hadn't planned on seeking any out, any particular reason why?"

"Because getting your cock sucked by a succubus might ruin you for the rest of us." Kal rolled his eyes as Ikuno started laughing. "Kidding aside, their tongues are amazing."

"Damn you two," said Ria, "all this talk of sex is getting me all worked up now." Kal and Ikuno both gave her blank stares. "What?" she said looking back at them, "our personalities were modeled after people with urges just like you. I've even messed around with a few of my better masters so don't look at me like that." Ria crossed her arms and turned around on Kal's shoulder her wings vibrating angrily.

"We weren't judging," said Ikuno, "You just caught us off guar…"

"Dammit!" yelled Kal looking down, "Wait a second, it's still there." He looked up at Ikuno, "I don't think I like this at all."

"What's going on?" asked Ria who had turned back around and was looking between the oni who was trying hard not to laugh and Kal who was looking both relieved and distressed at the same time.

"I think Kal currently had a Ria-sized dick," answered Ikuno

"Do you really expect me to believe he keeps you and four other women happy with a cock that can fit inside me?" she said glaring up at the oni. "Wait… you said 'currently'?"

"Ikuno cast a compatibility spell on me when we first got together, it changes my size to whatever fits the woman I'm about to sleep with. In this case, I was just curious and, well…" Kal blushed bright red and looked away from the small woman on his shoulder.

"You're forgetting something, Kal," said the oni drawing his attention back to her only to see that she was looking at Ria. "If she's of age the other participant has to be willing to keep it from disappearing, but she has to be wanting for it to change size."

Ria's face turned nearly transparent as she blushed then with a small hop she dropped off Kal's shoulder and disappeared next to her bag.

"That was kind of mean, Ikuno," said Kal as he pointed his tiny, semi-erect penis down and to the side. After concentrating for a moment, he let out a sigh as he felt it grow back to normal size. "You know as well as I do that this spell doesn't always follow the rules."

"Maybe so but now you both know that the option is there. I'd tread a bit more carefully with her though, she's not an eighteen-year-old who has just discovered how good sex is or a cock hungry monster girl. She may have very different rules, on the other hand, if she's anything like Kithana she may be just as cock hungry as I am but just hides it better."

Kal had to think for a moment before remembering that Kithana was Prentas's sprite friend. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of grinding rocks coming from the tunnel leading outside. He and Ikuno looked over to see Gerda standing with her hands on her hips looking mildly annoyed. Both of them went to their packs and grabbed their stone earpieces out, quickly putting them on.

"I was going to snatch you away, but you never moved off the furs," said Gerda once they could understand her. The golem held out her rocky hand, "Come along, Sandy is waiting for you."

Kal looked down realizing that Ikuno's 'carpet' had foiled the rock girl's sneak attack. Drawing a quick rune in the air, the bracer he had removed earlier floated up and onto his arm then tied itself before he smiled up at Ikuno, "Duty calls, see you in a little while," he said, pulling her down into a goodbye kiss.

"Pffft, 'Duty', as if. It'd better be more than just a little while if you're going to convince her to join the rest of us," she called after him as he made his way over to Gerda.

"Really? You changed your mind?" said the golem, her face lighting up with hope. He noticed that the pebbles covering her naughty bits were disappearing as he got closer, it had been a while since they had spent any time together. Kal thought that he might need to take a little bit of time from Sandy to pay some attention to the least demanding of his little harem.

"If it happens, I'll accept. I won't try to push the issue."

"Yay!" yelled Gerda throwing her arms around him in a big hug. Kal was extremely grateful he had remembered his bracer, an excited Gerda's hugs would be deadly without the strength rune. A fraction of a second later they both sunk into the stone beneath their feet.

"Dammit, I was going to ask him to leave Ria," Ikuno muttered to herself as she made her way back to her library. She really did hate sleeping in the chair.

Gerda had decided to turn the cavern where they first met into a little love nest, though each time he came back he got a stronger impression that she was turning it into something more akin to a home. She had turned some of the glowing mushrooms that were about to release their spores into a paste and seeded the walls of the cavern with swirling patterns, then filled in the gaps with an underground lichen that glowed more green than the mushrooms. The effect was very calming, almost to the point of hypnotizing. She also made a bed that was topped with moss from the corner he had first woken up in, again, it was a near replica of the one in Ikuno's cave. For the times when Kal ate there, Gerda had made a rudimentary pedestal table with four seats around it.

Kal looked around as soon as they entered the cavern but saw no trace of Gerda's sister.

"Where's…"

Gerda shushed him and pulled him over to the table. She then pushed him up against it she began stripping his clothes off, her rocky hand shrinking down to its nearly-human size. "I'm in control, show Sandy you aren't a threat," she said in her slow manner of speaking. Kal nodded, if this was what her sister needed to be comfortable then he was fine with it, until Gerda reached for his vambraces.

Kal pulled his arm away, at her questioning look he explained, "If she's nearly as strong as you, I need these to stay safe." After a moment's thought the golem nodded and went back to removing his clothes.

As he stepped out of his trousers she pointed at a spot on the table in front of one of the seats, "Sit."

Kal's first instinct had been to look at her and go, "Woof!" but he didn't think she would get the joke. Not to mention that she looked very uncomfortable being in the position of power. With a smile at his internal humor, he hopped up on the table as instructed.

Gerda was normally more than happy to go along with whatever Kal wanted to do at the time. He hadn't disappointed her yet, and the only time he had hurt her was when he took her virginity. She was even considering letting him play with her bottom, something that seemed strange and unnatural to her. She had felt not only his enjoyment through their bond, but also that of the other women when he took them in the behind, with all those thoughts coming at her it was no wonder she was getting curious.

She sat down in front of him and began stroking him to full hardness. She then began a running commentary directed towards the floor of all of the different parts of his prick and the do's and don't's she had learned so far. Most of what she was saying closely copied a similar lesson Gerda had gotten from Ikuno with one large exception: deepthroating.

Kal couldn't suppress an audible sigh of relief as the golem explained to her sister never to try taking him further than her mouth. During Gerda's own lesson on the edge of Ikuno's bed, neither he, nor Gerda, nor Ikuno had thought of how the rock golem's voice worked. When she swallowed his prick the scraping along that small section of her throat had been intensely painful on such a sensitive body part. It was only made worse by him jerking back out and firing up his healing rune. Gerda was mortified, and Ikuno had to grab her to keep the golem from running away. After a couple of minutes of convincing her that he wasn't mad and that it was just part of learning about each other's bodies, Kal made a very firm request, bordering on an order, that he wanted to cum in her mouth. She tentatively took him back in her mouth as Ikuno told her to watch his face so she could see how much pleasure she was giving him. From that point on, no deepthroating was the rule and Kal was happy to hear that rule being passed on.

Once Gerda was done with her explanation there was a whispered question from under the table that Kal couldn't make out.

"No, I suppose you don't." The golem looked up at him, "She's impatient and wants to get to the main part."

"I don't mind, where would you like me?" he said reminding Gerda and hopefully her sister that the rock golem was in control of this encounter.

"Stand over by the bed, please."

Kal did as she asked and was patiently waiting for something to happen when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning he saw a golem's rear end sticking out of the wall slowly walking backwards until her legs and waist were clear of the stone. 

Kal turned to Gerda, "What the hell is this?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said looking slightly scared, she'd never heard that particular tone in his voice. Seeing the stony look on his face she disappeared into the wall, Sandy's rear end vanishing a moment later. Kal could tell there was a heated discussion going on behind the wall but couldn't make it out through the stone. Gerda coming back into the cavern with her head hanging and shoulders drooping told him all he needed to know. Walking back over to his belongings he called out, "Ria!"

"Yes, Master Kal?" said the sprite a moment later, his tone had erased any embarrassment from their earlier conversation.

"Gather up my belongings. Gerda, take me back to Ikuno's," he ordered picking up Ria's bag as specks of light flew into it.

"I'm sorry, Kal," said Gerda from behind him.

Kal threw Ria's bag onto the table then spun around and took Gerda's face in his hands, pressing his lips to hers. Breaking the kiss, he stared into her surprised eyes, "You have nothing to be sorry for Gerda, you did what you could to make this work. However, that's no way to make a child and I'm a little bit disgusted that she would feel it was okay to do such a thing. Tell her that if she still wants me to give her a daughter we will do it face to face enjoying each other's bodies and not with her head in a wall and me just there to donate my seed. One last thing Gerda, I haven't been taking good enough care of you, I'd like it if you would spend the night with me and Ikuno."

"But, Sandy…"

"Can think about what I've said overnight. I won't tell you to stay with us tonight but I would enjoy your company."

Gerda nodded slowly before walking into the wall to speak with her sister.

Kal picked up Ria's bag and walked over to the other side of the cavern, closest to Ikuno's home. The sprite flew up onto his shoulder, "Pants?" she asked.

"I suppose," he said looking down. "Sorry you had to see that side of me, I didn't realize her doing that would make me so angry," Kal told the bag's avatar as he slipped his trousers back on.

"You'll have to tell me later, whatever happened was before you summoned me. Here comes your golem friend."

Kal nodded, "I'll see you back at Ikuno's."

The sprite's image faded as Kal turned around. The look on Gerda's face said that things had not gone well in a very different way. At his questioning look, she growled, "You're right, she can sleep alone tonight," before grabbing his arm and dragging him into the wall.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Hold your breath," said Ikuno, leaning over as she held the ink behind Kal's back with the telekinesis cantrip.

Kal did as she asked, trying hard to hold down his excitement as Ikuno placed the last and probably most important of his runic tattoos, the healing rune. Cure Poison and Cure Disease were already on his shoulder blades and now the healing rune was going to go right in between. Ikuno had recommended placing it on his back because when attacked the first instinct is to face your foe. Having it here reduced any chance of the rune getting damaged in combat.

The spell Ikuno was using to set the ink into his skin was accompanied by an icy tingling that made Kal grit his teeth. Thankfully, the sensation faded quickly.

"All done," she proclaimed standing up straight again. "I'd say that we should test it out, but you aren't injured at the moment and I have every faith in your improved runes after seeing you use them for so long."

Kal smiled at the compliment and looked over his shoulder, "I wish I could see them."

"Start working on some of the low-level illusions and you will probably be able to. Let me see if I can come up with something," said Ikuno. She concentrated for a moment and made a circular motion with her hand in front of her. The air shimmered for a few moments then started to become slightly reflective. Kal examined the runes on his back as best he could with the fuzzy image.

"Thank you," he said, "I couldn't make out much, but I appreciate the attempt."

Ikuno shrugged as the spell dissipated, "It's easier to make colors in the air than to make something reflective. I do have a polished piece of silver you could use as a mirror but it's in my bag," she offered. Kal thought about it for a moment and decided that it wasn't worth putting up with Dai again. When he shook his head there was an unmistakable look of relief on the oni's face.

Movement over by the entrance to Ikuno's home caught their attention as Gerda emerged from the stone wall. Her sad expression told them that she didn't have good news.

"What's wrong Gerda?" asked Kal.

"Sandy is gone," she replied, "It doesn't look like she even stayed the night."

Kal and Ikuno walked over and wrapped the golem in a hug to console her. "I shouldn't have yelled at her before we left," Gerda continued, relaxing into their embrace, "and I shouldn't have left her alone last night. She was so excited. She never stopped talking about having a daughter all the way here. I didn't think she would be so scared of humans that she wouldn't even show her face."

Ikuno had her arms wrapped around Gerda and Kal, she gave them a small squeeze and stepped back. "She has good reason to be wary and I can understand her being extremely cautious. However, I'm with Kal, that's no way to bring a child into this world." She looked over at Kal, "I must say though, I'm curious why you got as upset as you did last night."

"Honestly, it surprised me as well," answered Kal. "I think that it goes back to accepting that I wouldn't be the kind of father I wanted to be. Even with Sandy, Bas, and Marble, I knew that we wouldn't be doing this out of love, but I still assumed that we would still spend some quality time together and enjoy the experience. Being treated like a faceless donor made the whole situation feel… mechanical, as though anyone could have filled that role. I think that was what pissed me off the most, she made me feel like I didn't matter. If I don't get to be a true father and dote upon my children, then I at least want to know that they were conceived in a good way. I can't imagine if I had gone through with things last night and would live out the rest of my life knowing I had a daughter out there with my only memory being a woman's ass sticking out of a wall."

Gerda looked thoughtful at his words, "Maybe I should try to find her and explain what you just said. She only has a little bit of time before her cycle ends and it will be almost a year before she will be ready again."

Kal shrugged, "I really don't care at the moment since I'm still annoyed with her right now. However, I won't stop you if you decide to go after her."

"I was wondering, how did you end up yelling at her last night?" asked Ikuno.

The golem's expression saddened. "When I asked her what she was doing Sandy made it sound like Kal was just some bandit. I told her that I had been with him many times and not once had he done anything to hurt me. She snapped back at me saying that he was only keeping me around to have sex with."

Ikuno burst into laughter at the absurdity of the accusation while Kal just looked confused, "Did you not mention that I have other women?"

Gerda looked over at Kal while steadfastly ignoring the laughing oni, "No, I didn't know how she would react to having to share you with non-golems."

"If you go after Sandy, no more secrets. Let her know the whole story about who and what I am as well as my situation," said Kal "If you don't, then make sure Bas knows the same whenever you go get her." Gerda nodded in understanding.

Kal stopped for a moment and looked off in the direction of his farm, "I think that meant that I'm welcome back home."

"Ria already has all of your stuff stored away, except your shirt, cloak, and staff," said Ikuno as she and the golem followed Kal over to his belongings. When he was ready to go she leaned down and gave him a searing kiss goodbye, "I've left a little jar of lube with Ria, don't be afraid to use it. Remember, human women are a lot more sensitive back there, you can't just dive in and fuck the hell out Perra's ass like you can with me. It may take some time to make sure you don't hurt her but if you do it right she'll love you more for it."

Kal nodded even though this was probably the fifth time a similar conversation had happened between him and Ikuno since he told the oni of Perra's offer. He couldn't blame her for being so concerned, with the girl's only experience being the unpleasantness with Sir Michael, this was a big step. Kal was determined to make it as enjoyable for the girl as possible and hopefully erase the last of those bad memories.

He did have to suppress a smile at how the oni's attitude towards Perra had changed since the girl's birthday. 'Motherly' certainly wouldn't be a good way to describe it, more like a protective, horny older sister who didn't mind sharing her man with the younger girl. Kal's guess was that because Perra was now considered an adult, Ikuno could relax and play the part of older, wiser woman since she no longer had any direct responsibility over the girl.

Kal turned to Gerda and gave the golem a passionate goodbye kiss. "Last night was wonderful and I'm very happy that you decided to come with me instead of staying with Sandy. I'd like to do that with you a bit more often. I appreciate that you aren't as demanding as the others, but I don't want to get to the point where I feel like I'm neglecting you either."

The golem blushed at the thought of the previous night. Once she and Kal had cooled off from the encounter with Sandy, Ikuno had all but tackled them both into bed. Kal had mentioned early on to the oni that he wanted to focus on the golem girl that night. Ikuno had been quite accommodating, helping to get Gerda warmed up with some heavy petting then stepping back while Kal and the golem made love, for a while at least. As she was laying on her back with Kal slowly stroking in and out of her while sucking on one of her nipples, Gerda felt another much larger mouth on her other breast. From that point on Ikuno seemed determined to give the golem's body as much pleasure as possible while Kal was taking care of her sex. She had even allowed the oni to tease her backdoor as she rode Kal, sending her quickly into a shuddering orgasm and one step closer to letting Kal take her that way.

Kal had pulled out a small stone shelf next to Ikuno's bed for Gerda to put her hand on as she slept. The golem was far better about being away from stone for short periods but still needed its comforting presence to sleep. With her hand on the shelf Kal had curled up behind her, his cock slipping easily between her cheeks since it was still a bit wet from being inside Ikuno moments before.

Once he had filled her up for the second time, and Gerda was nearly insensate from being double teamed, Kal had asked Ikuno to cast a spell on him. He'd then bent her over the bed and slipped inside the oni, pounding her hard and fast to a couple of leg shaking climaxes while the golem looked on. Gerda had blushed fiercely when she realized that Ikuno was staring at her sex with obvious hunger. She hadn't noticed she was sitting on the bed with her legs slightly open while Kal's seed dripped on the bedcovers below.

A thought came to her that made the golem look quickly over at Kal. He nodded back at her with a smile. Shifting her hips forward she brought her human hand down below her pussy. Using her internal muscles, she squeezed out a dollop of cum onto her fingers and presented it to the oni. Gerda was stunned at Ikuno's reaction, nearly as soon as Kal's seed touched her tongue the oni sucked the rest of the golem's fingers into her mouth and screamed around them as her body shook from her second orgasm.

Afterward, Kal gave Ikuno a goodnight kiss and curled up behind Gerda on the bed. The golem looked over, expecting to feel the oni joining them on the bed, and saw Ikuno with a large metal club which she was securing to her hand with a strip of cloth. Laying her head back down she heard the oni sigh heavily before putting out the torches. Moments later, the same sigh was echoed by her bedmate.

Sometime during the night, she woke up to Kal moving.

"Fuck this," he'd muttered, pulling on the vambrace with his strength rune. Ikuno was just starting to wake from the small light he had summoned. Gerda watched as he walked over to where the oni was sleeping. "I'll take my chances," he said then picked up the large blue woman out of the stone chair and deposited her onto the bed. Kal directed her to lay with the club across the top of the bed as he strengthened the stone shelf he'd made for Gerda to also support the end of the weapon. With the oni situated, Kal crawled back into bed and pressed himself in between the two women. After taking a moment to lift one of the golems cheeks and tuck his prick between them again, he draped an arm over her and quickly began nodding off.

The last thing the golem had heard before falling asleep herself was Ikuno kissing the top of Kal's head and whispering, "I love you."

Now, as Kal stepped into the tunnel to go back to his farm, Gerda continued to blush. Not from their activities last night but because she wanted to tell Kal she loved him the way Ikuno did but couldn't overcome her embarrassment. She was just about to go after him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Gerda looked up at the oni with a mixture of frustration and relief.

"Wait," said Ikuno, "I'm pretty sure I know what you were about to do. When you say it he will want to spend some time with you alone. For Perra's sake and for his, wait just a little while longer. If I know him he'll turn around and come right back if you say it now."

Gerda nodded and watched Kal's light in the tunnel fade as he made his way home.

It was just before midday when he arrived back at his farm. Stopping just before the forest edge he looked over the property.

Something felt different.

Kal had been away from home for extended periods of time before as he grew up and each time there had been this sense of relief or perhaps it was a sense of being back where he belonged as he first laid eyes on the farmhouse.

Today, he didn't feel that.

It made him uncomfortable, like he was betraying some part of his nature. This had been his home his entire life, he had even been born here. Even so, it didn't feel like it was "his" anymore.

A small part of him wanted to blame Perra for the change but he quickly dismissed the idea. Certainly, the woman had stepped up to make sure that things were taken care of during the times he was gone but she had never acted with any sense of ownership over the property. He could argue that her wanting to hire some helpers could be construed as an act of ownership, however, their connection still worked largely on feelings and beneath what had sounded like the order of an annoyed woman was the hope that he would approve of her request.

No, Kal knew that it was him that had changed. Over just a few days he had climbed a mountain and found an ancient nesting site for a legendary bird, traveled to the depths of the earth and swum in a lake of molten rock, and even fought for his life a couple of times. Along the way he had been witness to a marriage; recognized as a Master within his town; befriended a harpy, a salamander, a bag of holding, and a group of metal eating crabs. Above all of those, he had flown. Well… not really, it had just been gliding, but the sense of freedom had been exhilarating. Days later the memory still made his breath quicken.

All of those experiences had undoubtedly altered him in some way but under careful consideration, it likely wasn't any of those things that had changed how he looked at the farmhouse. Most likely, it was the three magical runes that were now on his back. When he thought of someone calling him a wizard, the title felt like it fit in a way that it hadn't the day before. In a similar manner it had been getting harder and harder to think of himself as a farmer, today he felt more like a magic-user who occasionally works on a farm. Kal smiled as his internal identity as a farmer, which he had held onto so tightly and with great pride for years, fumed at the idea that he now thought of himself as a mage.

Kal looked up and saw Perra standing in the doorway of the barn staring at him, more specifically staring in his direction since he knew she wouldn't be able to see him beneath the shadow of the forest canopy. He was surprised that this bit of inner turmoil had been strong enough for her to sense it.

Kal adjusted his pack and stepped out of the forest heading towards the girl. Perhaps Ikuno has been more correct than he had given her credit for. Perhaps the time for him to strike out on his own was coming far faster than he had anticipated.

After helping his mother out into the living room, Kal spent the rest of the afternoon regaling her and Perra with his tales of events from the last few days. His mother's occasional scolding ranged from corrupting Rone into taking on a second wife to "there are some things a mother doesn't need to hear about," when he told them of how the gargoyle flew him high into the air and dropped him.

Both of the women had an enjoyable conversation with Ria once he had introduced her. Kal's mother had been slightly put off by the sprite's nudity. He mentioned something to her about being dressed for the occasion, a moment later a loose top just barely large enough to cover her breasts and a short skirt appeared on the avatar's small body. They were equally impressed with Ria's ability to store things as they were with her personality when he demonstrated by having her store his staff then retrieve it right away.

Kal had just sat back down from getting himself a mug of ale from the small keg they kept in the kitchen when Perra asked Ria.

"Have you ever been filled up before?" she asked then immediately blushed since how it sounded was much different than what she meant. Kal's mother shot the girl a disapproving glance and Kal choked a bit as he tried to take a sip of ale.

"No," replied Ria, "Not to say that my former master didn't try, but he was hardly up to the task."

Kal just managed to turn his head and keep from spitting the brew all over his mother after the sprite's comment. He then spent the next couple of minutes cleaning warm ale from the front of his shirt and trying to get the smell out of his nose. "You did that on purpose," he said to Ria with a half-hearted accusing glare. The bag's avatar was laughing too hard to respond.

Perra came back with a couple more towels for Kal to clean up with "I think I'm going to like her," she said nodding towards the giggling image of a sprite.

Kal removed his shirt and pushed some magic into the small rune on a leather tag that quickly cleaned it. He took the opportunity to show them the three rune's he now had across his back, explaining to his mother for the first time that the ink for these wouldn't burn and had been the purpose of the journey he had been on for the last few days. When he mentioned that one of them was Cure Disease his mother looked up at Kal's face.

"You didn't waste some of that precious ink you worked so hard for that just because of what happened to me, did you?"

Kal smiled, "Partly, if I ever run across someone in a similar situation to ours then I plan on using this to help them. No one should have to choose between the life of a loved one and slavery. However, it's more than just that, this allows me a degree of protection from liken… lycan… from being turned into a werewolf," he said in a rush, annoyed that he couldn't remember how to say the blasted word.

"That's a disease?" asked Perra, then shared a confused glance with Kal's mother.

He nodded, "A magical one but it's still considered a disease, as is vampirism," Kal allowed himself a mental pat on the back for not stumbling over that word as well. "From what I learned, it's both a disease and a powerful curse. With this, if I were bitten I could heal myself of the disease portion, which would kill me in the next few days then bring me back as an undead. After that, I would just need to get the curse removed to get rid of the bloodlust and burning in the sun.

"As you can see, it has other purposes besides sentimental ones."

His mother frowned, "I still don't like the idea of you preparing to go deal with things like vampires and werewolves," a small shudder ran through her, "I still can't imagine what kind of hell the werewolf that took your father put other families through once it left the area."

"No…" Kal whispered his eyes wide. Perra and his mother both gave him questioning looks as he slowly shook his head. "There's no way I could have forgotten that, I rehearsed it over and over. I thought you would be so happy…"

"What is it Kal?" asked Perra, concerned by the shocked look on his face.

"Something I should have told mother a long time ago, I still can't believe I could have forgotten something so important." He knelt down in front of his mother's chair, "The werewolf that killed father is dead. It turned north then east as the menfolk in the village suspected but it never left the area." Knowing how his mother usually reacted to mentioning Ikuno, he had glossed over her importance in his journey, there was no way of getting out of bringing her up now. "The werewolf ran into Ikuno's home, there was a fierce battle between them, but she won in the end. She chopped it up and disposed of the body in a way that it couldn't ever regenerate and hurt anyone else. Without even knowing, Ikuno avenged Father, Gran, and Gramps."

Kal's mother sat there for a moment with a stunned look on her face. A few seconds later tears began to run down her cheeks then she leaned forward wrapping her arms around Kal as she began to cry in earnest.

Perra quietly moved around the back of Kal's mother and gestured agitatedly while mouthing, 'How the hell do you forget something like that!'

'I don't know!' he responded as his mother continued crying into his shoulder.

Perra threw her hands up in exasperation before deciding to leave Kal and his mother alone and go work on supper.

Kal came into his and Perra's room after helping his mother to bed. She had been weak to the point where she couldn't walk, even with Kal's assistance, and he had ended up carrying her into his old bedroom.

"Is it just me, or did she get worse over the course of the day?" he asked Perra.

The younger woman sighed as she crawled under the covers, "Something similar happened a while back on one of the nights you were gone. I think it was after your encounter with the gargoyles if I'm not mistaken. She came to check on me and fell hitting her head. I came out and helped her up into her chair and we sat there and talked for a while, mostly about you, until the bleeding stopped. When I took her back to bed I nearly had to carry her, much like you did when you went and got her today. It wouldn't have been so noticeable except that she had mostly gotten herself into the chair only a few minutes earlier."

"As awful as this sounds maybe this is why I 'forgot' to tell her about what happened to the werewolf. It seems like certain things make her suddenly worse." He looked at the wall separating their rooms, strain apparent on his face. "Now I'm wishing I hadn't told her," he said remembering how moments ago his mother had been struggling just to keep her head raised and not let it loll as she was carried to bed.

"I'm sorry, Kal, I wish there was more I could do, but I really don't understand what's going on with her," said Perra, with sadness and concern for her lover in her eyes.

Kal gave her a weak smile, "Don't feel bad Perra, no one does. Except for Ikuno perhaps, but she's so tight-lipped about anything to do with my mother I can't help but wonder what the connection between them is." Kal quickly undressed and joined Perra in bed but not before she gave him an appreciative whistle for his clean-shaven groin. "I know you had something special planned for tonight, I hope you don't mind but I'm not really feeling up for it."

"It's fine," she said pressing her back up against his chest and suddenly missing the feeling of his chest hair, "To be honest I may have been a bit quick to make that offer. Fingers and tongue seem to be okay but when I think about you taking me that way, I mean really imagining that you are about to enter me, my whole body locks up and I have to fight down the fear of it hurting." She gave him an apologetic look over her shoulder, "Give me a bit more time."

Kal wrapped his arms around her, "Take all of the time you need, I'm in no hurry."

"Hmph, I'd imagine not with women like Ikuno who bend over and spread their cheeks wide while begging to be taken that way."

A very vivid image popped into Kal's head. Despite his insistence that he wasn't really in the mood, his body reacted anyway.

"That's what I was hoping for," said Perra feeling him harden. She lifted a leg and reached down placing him at the entrance of her sex. With a groan, she slid down on him as far as she could manage from this angle before lowering her leg again. With a contented sigh, she adjusted herself so she was comfortable. "I love you, Kal, goodnight."

Kal chuckled and draped an arm over the woman in front of him cupping one of her breasts. Flexing his cock, he got a pleasing squeak from the girl before he kissed her on the back of the head. "Goodnight, Perra, I love you too."

A couple of days later Gerda contacted him, her excitement apparent through their bond. Sandy had come back!

After his and Sandy's first encounter Kal wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as the Gerda. It was with more than a little regret that he bid his mother and Perra farewell and headed to Ikuno's where the golem girl was waiting to take her to her sister. On his way there he conversed as best he could with Gerda through their bond to make sure he wasn't wasting his time. She assured him that she had explained everything as best she could to the younger golem and that there shouldn't be any issues.

He was mildly disappointed when he and Gerda arrived in her cavern to find it empty. Gerda, on the other hand, had a big smile on her face and began making a 'come here' motion at the wall. A couple of seconds later Sandy walked out, with a motion from Gerda the pebbles covering her breasts and groin melted away and her rocky body parts shrunk to more human proportions.

She looked to be about the same age as Perra but Kal knew that was misleading and that she would actually be just over two-hundred years old. Besides being noticeably younger than Gerda, her body was set up much the same way as far as her parts that were made of rock, one arm, both legs below the knees and the top left quarter of her head were all tan colored sandstone. As she slowly moved toward Kal and Gerda he noticed they weren't truly tan. Striations in her rocky parts that ran from white, to red, to deep brown in a seemingly random pattern gave the impression of a tan color from afar. Also, like her older sister she had a large ruby for her left eye.

Kal stood quietly holding out his hand to the girl as she cautiously approached. With a look that flickered between fear and determination, she stopped right in front of them.

"I am sorry," she said quietly, "when Lime explained things to me I realized you were right, that was no way to make my first daughter." Kal was very appreciative of the earpiece, Gerda's voice bordered on melodic when compared to the younger golem's.

Kal smiled as he continued to hold out his hand. Sandy finally reached out and put her human hand in his. The young wizard pulled her in and tilted her head up with his other hand. The young golem gasped as he bent down and started placing small kisses along her jawline on his way to her neck. Forgetting for a moment that there wasn't really an ear on that side with lobes for nibbling on, Kal instead moved his mouth to hers and kissed her hard as he held her body tight to his.

"Now let's do this in a way that will make you smile every time you look down and see your belly growing," he said. The young golem just nodded and stared back at him, amazed that this human had barely touched her, and she could already feel the fluids from her sex running down her thigh.

Sandy left the next day, unbonded and without Kal learning her real name. Granted, he hadn't actually asked and from the way she constantly referred to Gerda as Lime he had a feeling that this was a custom among the golem girls. Gerda had been ecstatic after Sandy left, hugging him and telling him profusely how much she appreciated what he had done. Out of nowhere she suddenly blurted out "I love you" then reeled back in horror and promptly sank into the stone out of embarrassment. Kal sat on one of the chairs by the table waiting for her to come back, misjudging her perseverance and drifting off to sleep before she returned. True to Ikuno's prediction, once she woke him up he insisted on spending some alone time with just her in the cave. Gerda was delighted.

Kal got a whoop of excitement from Ikuno as he and Perra were in Telsin looking for possible helpers out at the farm. They, unfortunately, had to turn away their first applicant. News traveled through town fast and when it reached the tanner's, the boy Kal had lifted the tree off of had dropped everything to meet Kal and offer up his services. Perra was the one who noticed the Master Tanner had followed the boy and was watching from the edge of town. His scowling face as the boy spoke to Kal and Perra convinced them to turn the boy down for the sake of keeping the peace, especially with a member of the council.

Shortly after the young man had left Kal felt the oni's burst of elation, from what he could tell she finally managed to cast the spell that would protect her from being attacked from the astral plane. More specifically it anchored her here in the real world and preventing her from being dragged off to where she could be assaulted.

As he was explaining this to Perra a couple of travelers looking for some easy coin came striding out of the inn and demanded jobs. A good number of the patrons had spilled out onto the front porch in anticipation of a fight.

Kal yelled over at those watching, "Can anyone over there speak for these two as being good workers!" There was much shrugging and shaking of heads coming from the onlookers. "I'm sorry," said Kal, "If no one of any reputation in this town will vouch for you then I won't be hiring you to take care of my property."

"No one in this town of mudpuppies has any reputation," spat one of the men as he pulled out a knife and waved it at Kal, "and I'll be damned if I'll let some farmer make me look like a fool just because none of that gaggle of idiots back there will speak for me."

Perra sighed heavily and began walking off towards the stables, about half-way there she made a sharp turn that took her to the front steps of the inn. Meanwhile, Kal ignored the men for a moment and called out to the inn's patrons again, "He called me a farmer! Did no one mention to these two what I am?"

"Nay!" Kahrin yelled back a moment before Perra walked up the steps and gave her a hug. "They heard ye were payin' fer some help at yer farm and high-tailed it out the door!"

The two men were obviously getting agitated by Kal's flippant attitude. The man without the knife looked back and saw the smiling faces and almost jovial atmosphere of those in front of the inn. When he faced Kal again it was clear the man was feeling very uncomfortable.

Kal pulled his cloak to the side, "Ria, can I have my staff please?" he said without taking his eyes from the two men. A mote of light floated up out of the bag tied to his belt and turned into his gold and platinum capped staff when it hit his palm.

"Nice magic trick," sneered the man with the knife, "but…" his friend nudged him to get his attention then shook his head while glancing back towards the inn. The knife wielder looked back an saw the same as the other man. "What? Is this boy your town's champion or something?" He yelled towards the inn. "You all going to hide behind some snot-nosed bra… urk!" When he turned back around he came nose to tip with the point of a spear held by a man with glowing eyes and runes shining from the leather coverings on his forearms.

"I believe it's time for you two gentlemen to leave town," said Kal with a level tone.

The man's eyes crossed for a moment as he tried to focus on the tip of the spear before he looked at the figure holding it. "I may be an asshole, but I'm not a stupid one," he said sheathing his knife. "Well be out of your little mudhole in a couple of minutes." He nodded at his friend and they both started making their way towards the town stables.

Kal turned off the light show and turned the spear back into a staff as he watched the men walk away. Once they had gotten their horses and were on their way out of town he began making his way towards Perra and the inn. When he arrived Kal was treated to an unusual sight, Perra was wandering around collecting a few coppers from various customers as everyone slowly filed back into the dining area.

"What are you doing?" he whispered at her when he got close.

"I made some bets that you could run them off without bloodshed," seeing his frown she patted his cheek. "Don't make that face, I have a plan." Once everyone was settled back in, Kal found two tankards of ale shoved into his hands as Kahrin and Perra pushed him towards Bren's table before having a whispering discussion behind the bar.

When the noise levels returned to normal Kahrin stood up on the bar and got everyone's attention. "There's a few o' ye out there that were foolish enough ta bet against Lady Perra's man." numerous groans were heard across the dining room. "As most o' ye know by now, Master Kal an' Lady Perra are lookin' for some help out on their farm," there was a chorus of agreement that ran through the room. "Lady Perra is offerin' ta give ya back yer coppers if'n you'd be willin' ta head out to some of the farms about town and ask any second sons ye can find if'n they'd be interested in the job."

A couple of those who were on the wrong side of the betting waved off their losses but quite a few approached the bar where Perra counted out their coppers back to them before they exited the inn.

By the time sunset came along Kal and Perra had three young men familiar with farming ready to be put to work, and a big problem. Two of the boys had gotten into fights with their families when they left and had shown up with every possession they had. Perra's reasoning for going after the second son was sound, they wouldn't inherit anything when their father passed on so they would be most likely to jump at the opportunity to make a name for themselves elsewhere. However, she hadn't considered how much of a help a young boy was around a farm and how upset the family would be to lose said help. As it was, Kal told them that their first job would be building themselves a bunkhouse out on his property. Until it was finished they would be staying at the Inn with Kal picking up their tabs. The young mage had a slightly surreal moment as he was telling the men all of this, momentarily unable to wrap his head around the fact that two of them were between him and Perra in age while the last was actually a year older than Kal. Yet here he was giving them orders like someone closer to his mother's age.

The men were warned that Kal kept odd company and he quickly proved it by getting Felli to help with the construction of the new building on the far side of the barn. At first, they were wary when the harpy showed up a couple of minutes before the wizard the next day, though Perra's warm welcome of the monster girl helped put them at ease. When Kal arrived he quickly took one of his larger axes and felled one of the trees the men had marked earlier, the three men hardly believing that it had only taken him a few swings to do so. Kal, however, was quietly annoyed with himself, because of his showing off he was now going to have to replace the handle.

With that done he directed Felli to stand on top of the trimmed log then asked one of the other men to pick it up. The skeptical looks Kal got were anticipated but he just stood there waiting next to Felli with his now-cracked axe on his shoulder. Finally, the youngest of the three, Tain, if Kal remembered correctly, came over and heaved the end of the log up into the air. He then promptly ended up on his rear as not only was he able to lift it but it was extremely light which he hadn't been expecting. The harpy walked over to the end of the felled tree and glared down at the man, having not appreciated being nearly thrown into the air then just as quickly dropped. It didn't take them long to figure out how Felli's power worked and they were quickly on their way to setting up a foundation by the end of the first day.

The second day of work held a surprise for Kal. Unbeknownst to him, Felli had taken her new duties of cleaning up the cave very seriously and had invited a few other harpies in the area to help out with the hopes that they might eventually find mates. That morning four harpies showed up instead of just the one Kal had been expecting. After meeting Felli the day before the men were relatively comfortable around the newcomers and by the end of the second day most of the work remaining needed cut boards from the lumber mill. Kal's new helpers were very appreciative of the harpy's attention, second born males often didn't get much consideration from the girls in town since their chances of becoming landowners were so slim.

Kal was unaware of harpy's ability to target a specific male with her pheromones, even so, he still wasn't surprised when none of the men returned to the inn that night. The next morning, he met three exhausted but happy farmhands as the harpies dropped them off. He didn't get many complaints as he told them that plans had changed from a bunkhouse to four good-sized bedrooms, two on each side, with a large common room in the middle. With beaming smiles, all six of them went to work changing around what they had already built to match the new floorplan.

Perra approached him as he was saddling Bonn to go put in his order at the lumber mill. "Do you think it's wise to let them have their new girlfriends staying here with them? If the townspeople find out they will be shunned, and we are a good deal closer to town than Rone and Marda's farm."

Kal shrugged, "In some ways they already were. No chance of having their own farm yet too important as an extra set of hands to just allow them to go learn a different craft like many third sons do. I'm honestly more concerned about someone reporting it to the church. I know in the big cities that tolerate monster girls there's little they can do, but Telsin isn't a big city and they might decide to take action. Thankfully, Felli drilled it into the girl's heads before allowing them to come what the rules were about staying out of sight. After last night and the smiles on their faces this morning I doubt those three will do anything to jeopardize what they have going."

"What about chicks?"

Kal's brow furrowed, "Hadn't thought about that. It feels mean to make them stay up on the mountain but that may have to be the case until they are old enough to understand the rules of dealing with humans."

A flutter of wings by the barn entrance drew Kal and Perra's attention. Kuto was a couple of inches shorter than Felli, her cobalt hair, wings, and back along with hay colored chest and forked tail resembled those of a barn swallow. Despite her diminutive stature she was the oldest of the harpies and seemed to be a natural leader. Along with Corben, whom she assisted and eventually took home yesterday, Kal got the impression he could tell the couple what he wanted to be done then walk away without any worries, only to come back later to find the project completed. "Master Kal?" called Ruto from the doorway. "Corben and Thom would like to speak to you about a couple of changes we… umm… they would like to make since we are nearly starting from scratch."

Kal smiled at Perra, "Duty calls," he said before following the small harpy.

During the next month and a half, things fell into a sort of rhythm. Kal made his visits across the northern mountains to visit with 'Dell and Bea on occasion. He would have liked to go more often but with his mother's condition worsening it made him nervous to be far from home for too long. Thankfully they were both very understanding, as was Ikuno. The oni drove him hard on his visits pushing him both physically and mentally due to their limited time. To her delight, Kal rose to the occasion, becoming quite adept with the staff while his hand to hand skills improved at nearly the same pace as before with much less time for training. Even without magic, he was becoming a formidable opponent.

While Kal didn't make any more progress on the flight rune he did finally remember the book where he had seen the word "Entropa" before. Unfortunately, it was just the word on the diagram and had no more information to offer elsewhere in the book. He worked diligently to learn as many of the cantrip level spells as he could while he was at home. Because of the situation, Ikuno started letting him take a single tome with him to study. This allowed him to focus on his various runes when he had access to the rest of her library. Even with the limited availability of research time Kal still found the time to learn and perfect the rune that eventually took the place of the healing rune on his vambraces.

The adaptation rune allowed him to traverse areas of blistering heat and biting cold without the need for extra protective clothing. However, the protection was only from natural weather phenomenon and didn't apply to magical sources like the fire resistance rune did. He was honestly a bit sad as he used a variant of the spell for setting the runes into the leather to remove the healing spell, it had been one of his first and he had put it to good use since he became a mage. He just couldn't see the purpose of having this one as well as the one on his back. The spells that were set into leather still required he pierce through what felt like a clay wall to activate, the one on his back was like poking his finger through a piece of extremely thin paper. With a sigh, he let the ink from the healing rune crumble into a small pile of dust off to one side. He then pulled some ink from the well and began making his improved version of the adaptation rune.

Corben, Thom, and Tain all came to him after a few weeks and asked if he would be interested in expanding his farm. With the three of them working fields that had been manageable by a single person and the added help of their harpy girlfriends they didn't feel like they were doing enough work to justify their pay. Kal passed off the idea to Perra who was quickly becoming his go-to person for business matters now that she wasn't doing much farm work. The next day she showed him a writ of ownership that increased the size of his farm by more than double and later that day he could already see trees on the back edge of the property coming down to make room for more fields.

Kal was certainly proud of what his farm was turning into, at the same time, it seemed to drive home that this wasn't what he was meant to do in life. He was bothered that all of this recent prosperity had come about through no actual work of his own. Even when his hired help and the harpies had suggested moving the boarding house from behind the barn to the north-eastern corner of his property, keeping them and any possible future families away from prying eyes, all he had done was nod his assent. It was perhaps a blessing that between his studies and his mother he had little time to dwell on such thoughts.

The rhythmic pace to Kal's life came to an end when Gerda announced that she was going to be heading out to get Bas. With so many distractions he had completely forgotten about his rendezvous with the golem's sister. After the poor start with Sandy he wondered if some of that forgetfulness was intentional, he wasn't excited about the prospect of a repeat.

Perra seemed especially agitated by the news. It took him a few hours to realize that she was right in the middle of her cycle, meaning that it was also her best time to get pregnant if she chose to. They had talked about children a couple of times, but she had yet to give him a solid answer as to whether or not she wanted his child before he left.

On the day Kal was to meet with the Bas he left a huffy and scowling Perra banging dishes around in the kitchen area. As he made his way to Ikuno's he maintained his normal routine and stopped to say a couple of words to Eludora. To his surprise, something had changed in his daughter's little clearing. There was a small sprout poking up out of the ground at the very top of her mound. Kal's excitement shot through his bond with the girls and through his connection with Perra, even though she had dulled things down to a whisper earlier because of her mood. Within minutes Perra and Ikuno were on their way and very pregnant Bea was slowly heading towards Aradelle. Kal wished he could do the same, he could tell she was crying tears of happiness through their bond and wanted to be there to comfort her. Since that wasn't possible today, he instead burned the image of their daughter into his head and sent it to 'Dell as strongly as he could. She quickly sent back a few interesting things she planned on doing to him during his next visit to show her appreciation. Ikuno arrived first and immediately burst into tears upon the tiny green tendril that had pushed up through the soil. Kal could hardly blame her, in a way Eludora was as much Ikuno's as she was his and 'Dell's. Kal experienced a flash of sadness at how the oni had to experience things like motherhood in a second-hand manner.

Ikuno looked up at him from where she was kneeling next to Eludora. "Don't feel sad for me," she said, "I came to terms with that part of my life long ago."

Hoofbeats from the southwest announced Perra's arrival just before Bonn trotted into the small clearing and came to a stop. At Kal's questioning look toward the horse she just smiled, "I was going to head over to town and already had him saddled." She stared at the tiny plant in front of Ikuno as she dismounted. "She's beautiful, Kal." The oni looked up at Perra's voice, quickly wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. Perra hesitated next to Bonn for a moment before walking over and throwing her arms around Ikuno's neck. "I've missed you," she mumbled into the blue woman's shoulder.

Ikuno returned the hug, "I've missed you too dear. I'd resigned myself to not seeing you until Bea's little girl hatched and we all went up there to see her." They had decided that meeting Bea's baby would also be a good time to see if the bonding magic would work for Perra as well. Ikuno was adamant that the attempt be a bit more ceremonious than the other girls had been. The only reason Kal could come up with for the oni's insistence was that they were both human and the scene Ikuno pictured was somewhat similar to a human wedding ceremony.

Kal sighed heavily, "Much as I would like to stay, Gerda is still expecting me."

Perra lifted her head off of Ikuno's shoulder and gave him a sultry look, "You finally get us together and now you're running away?" Turning back to the oni, she said, "I guess we will have to keep ourselves occupied."

"Perra!" the girl's eyes widened at Kal's tone. He indicated the sprout over by her and Ikuno, "Not in front of the children," he said emphatically while utterly failing at keeping a straight face. Perra rolled her eyes in exasperation as Ikuno started laughing. He stepped over and gave them both a quick goodbye kiss before continuing on his way to meet Gerda.

Kal couldn't have been more wrong in thinking that Bas would be anything like Sandy. When he and Gerda entered her cavern Bas was sitting on the bed, she immediately stood and began walking toward them.

Bas was nearly as tall as he was and followed the same pattern of which body parts were made of rock, the similarities ended there. Where Gerda was all soft curves and Sandy had a body type very close to Perra's; Bas's body and how she moved gave the impression of raw sensuality. Kal found himself getting hard already and she hadn't done anything more than walk towards him. It probably helped that she hadn't bothered with the pebble bikini and had shrunk down all of her rocky parts the same way Gerda did. Unlike Gerda and Sandy, her stone body parts were smooth, as if polished. This gave her the look of wearing boots, a single glove and a partial mask made out of something similar to Bea's chitin but without the brown undertones.

From his experience with Ikuno and the others Kal could tell every movement the woman made was designed to be enticing; from the gentle almost hypnotic sway of her large breasts, to the way every step seemed like a presentation of a perfectly shaped leg that made him forget her sex was in plain sight, then teased him with its presence until she brought her other leg forward. The display was nothing short of masterful as the prick straining to get out of his trousers could attest to.

Bas stopped in front of Kal, her entire demeanor changed from full vamp to concerned and hesitant in an instant. "Is what Lime is saying true? That if I bind myself to you it will protect me from men using their seed to try to hunt me?" Her voice was smooth and almost melodic, a welcome change from Sandy.

Kal nodded, "Yes we believe that to be true, although, in honesty, we haven't tested it yet. One of my women who has been bound to others before says that's how it works, and I trust her implicitly. The only way to know is to try it."

Bas closed her human eye as she considered his offer. When she opened it again a few moments later there was a smile on her face and she was back to being a seductress. Kal was a little bit surprised when he saw the binding magic swirl in between him and the golem but true to his word he accepted it.

Bas smiled when she felt the desire coming from Kal and nearly laughed at the fainter desires coming from a few of the other women wanting to learn how to move like she did. She stepped closer to Kal and took his hand. "You've given me protection," she said, pulling him toward the bed, "now it's time to give me a daughter."

Kal laughed, "What do I get out of it?" he asked as she nearly dragged him along.

Bas dropped his hand and stood in front of the bed with her arms out to either side.

"Everything."

Kal pushed aside all of the background chatter among the girls as he made his way home the next day. Bas and Gerda were still back at Ikuno's chatting with the oni and trying to keep Aradelle and Bea in the conversation as well. Unfortunately, talking with the girls on the northern side of the mountain took more 'volume' for lack of a better word, this meant they were being very loud to Kal.

He stopped in to see Eludora and got another surprise. Where a sprout had been the day before there was now a sapling that was nearly chest high and dotted with tiny leaf-buds. Aradelle explained through a series of images that this was how a young Alarune increased her chances of survival and was completely normal. First, they set down a good-sized root system then grew intensely for a couple of days to avoid being eaten by local fauna as well as get up into the canopy of the forest to get access to sunlight, something Eludora didn't need to worry about thanks to her little clearing. Next, they would take on the look of a nearby tree and use it as camouflage while they grew to adulthood. Kal sent back his thanks and decided that he should probably get his mother over here within the next couple of days, so she could meet her first granddaughter.

"This is my granddaughter?" Kal's mother said as Perra helped her down of Bonn's back and into Kal's waiting arms.

"Don't sound so disappointed, mother," he was starting to think that perhaps this hadn't been the greatest idea. His mother had been grouchy and complained all the way here.

"I'm not disappointed, she's beautiful, Kal. But this…" she waved at the small tree in front of her, "isn't the same as having a baby to swaddle and bounce on your knee." Kal could hardly argue that point as Eludora now stood well over his head and even Ikuno's, the buds from the day before had turned into oval-shaped leaves that danced in the light breeze.

Kal stood next to his daughter's tree holding his mother. She reached up and took one of the leaves in her hand, gently rubbing her thumb over it. At that moment her entire demeanor changed, a happy smile coming to her face. "I can feel it," she said, "I don't think I really believed you, Kal. The idea of having a plant for a granddaughter felt like you were playing a bad joke on me. Now I know, she really is your daughter, it's like a tiny part of me recognizes her as one of my own blood. Take me in further Kal."

He did as she asked, and his mother put her hand on the tree's trunk closing her eyes and relaxing into Kal's arms. Perra came up beside him and laid her head on his shoulder, "I'm not sure I've ever seen your mother so at peace."

Kal's mother looked over at the young woman, a contented smile on her face, "I am." A moment later her eyes closed and her head lolled back as her hand slipped off of Eludora's trunk.

"Mother?... Mother!... MOTHER!"

Ikuno paced back and forth across the furs in her home, someone was coming and she was pretty sure it was Perra since she could feel that Kal was still back at his farmhouse with his mother. Light appeared in the entrance to her cave and eventually revealed Perra holding her enchanted rock, her face streaked from crying.

"I'm not coming," Ikuno growled at the girl.

Perra ignored the oni's words, "Mom wanted me to tell you that it's not a request this time and to bring her books."

Ikuno stared wide-eyed at the girl for a moment.

"FUCK!" yelled the oni stomping into her library. A chair that got in her way came flying out and was reduced to splinters as it hit the side of her bed. The table went crashing into one set of bookshelves, whatever books Kal had been studying ending up in a heap along with the magical lantern. Ikuno knelt down and opened a secret compartment in the bottom of the other set of bookshelves. Yanking out a small leather bag she threw it out into the middle of the floor and yelled, "Dai!"

The image of a green man sitting on a cloud appeared above the pouch, "What do you want now peasan…"

"Shut the fuck up," barked Ikuno, striding out of her library, "So help me if you say another word I will take everything of value out of you, fill you with cow manure, then toss you into the middle of the nearest fucking volcano. Three books, children's stories that I gave to you around eighteen years ago."

Dai's expression went from wide-eyed with shock at her threat to disgust, "Why would you want…"

"NOT ANOTHER FUCKING WORD DAI!"

The bag's avatar snarled back at the oni before three lights flew out of the bag and turned into the books she had asked for.

"Now go away," commanded the oni. As soon as Dai had disappeared Ikuno stepped over the books and stomped repeatedly on the leather bag, grinding her heel in each time before picking it up and flinging it against the back wall of her library. She took a deep calming breath before gingerly picking up the three books on the floor, each of which looked as though it had been read through hundreds of times.

Seeing the shocked look on Perra's face, Ikuno mumbled, "Sorry you had to see that. In case Kal didn't mention it Dai and Ria are nearly indestructible."

"Why, Ikuno?" she asked surveying the mess the oni had caused.

"Because it's one thing to have an idea or a suspicion." Ikuno looked down at the books in her hand, "It's another thing to know for sure."

Kal saw Bonn come trotting out of the forest carrying Perra with Ikuno jogging close behind. Stepping inside his house he addressed his visitors. "Master Jurien, Lady Nina, one of my friends is about to arrive. She looks a lot like an ogre but is actually something else called an oni. She's one of my women and will not hurt you," he said before disappearing into his mother's room.

A few seconds later Perra came in closely followed by a blue-skinned giant of a woman that had to duck and turn sideways just to get in the door. Both the apothecary and his wife were thankful for Kal's warning. The large woman nodded towards the two before following Perra to see the young wizard's mother.

"Were those books?" Nina asked her husband.

"Aye, but the way she carried them, you'd think they were made of gold."

Inside the small room, Kal and Perra moved off to either side to make room for the oni.

Ikuno glared down at the woman in the bed despite her eyes filling with tears. "Merantha, you foolish child, why didn't you listen to me?" she said, handing the books to Kal and kneeling next to the bed.

Kal knew there was a connection between his mother and Ikuno but hearing the oni call his mother by her full name still came as a surprise. Looking down he saw the missing volumes to the set of books he had used to learn to read growing up. "No more secrets, please," he said running his hand over the cover of the topmost book.

"No, I suppose there isn't enough time left for secrets," said Kal's mother. Kal winced at the implication. "Sorry dear, but we know it's true. You answered your own question, Ikuno. I was foolish, and I was a child. Worse yet I was a child who was madly in love and few things can make a woman more foolish. Speaking of which, you look beautiful Ikuno, you wear my son's love well. This blue suits you so much better than that greenish color I remember."

"You did good, Mera. Your son has turned into an amazing man and I think it's time he knows the whole story."

Kal's mother nodded and laid her head back, collecting her thoughts before she began to speak. "I've told you the story of how your father and I met and eventually got married. What I didn't tell you was that I was never supposed to happen, near as anyone could tell my mother was barren. Then, by chance, I came along, and I was your Gran and Gramps's only child. Your father was an only child as well but that was because something went wrong when his mother was giving birth to him, she was never able to bear children after that.

After four years of trying to get pregnant, I was desperate, afraid that I had taken after my mother and would only be able to give your father an heir out of luck. I had heard whispers from people in a town to the east, your hometown Perra, of a witch who lived out somewhere in the woods."

Ikuno shook her head with a slight smile, "Around that time, I had come across a bandit raid on some travelers just to the north of the town. Instead of showing myself I used magic to take out the bandits from the forest edge. Apparently, someone saw me as I was trying to sneak away."

Kal's mother nodded, "Being as desperate as I was, I went looking for this witch. It took me some time, and I think your father was starting to worry I had found another man, but I finally stumbled across a cave that was mostly hidden by trees. Without really thinking about what might be inside I stumbled my way through the darkness until I started seeing light from inside. Seeing an angry looking ogre staring back at me gave me an awful fright but as I looked around I saw that she was far more civilized than what I had heard about ogres. Then I saw all of the books in the back and I knew I was in the right place."

"I was reading when she tripped my wards," grumbled Ikuno, "forgot to turn the damn lamp off."

"I begged and begged and begged for a spell that would let me have a child and for the longest time I didn't think she would do it."

Ikuno's hand came down to her belly, "I knew that pain from a long time ago. Thinking I could help save this young girl from something similar, I swore your mother to secrecy and looked up the fertility spell. It isn't even a difficult spell, it just forces the woman's body into her fertile time. I had her stand in the middle of the room and cast the spell. Nothing happened, the spell fizzled. It didn't have anything to work with inside your mother's body and just failed."

Tears ran own Merantha's cheeks at the memory, "My worst nightmare came true, I was barren. I cursed my mother, cursed the gods and goddesses, I even had a few choice words for Ikuno that I regret to this day. I cried myself to sleep on her floor and woke up the next morning in her bed. Ikuno was in the back of the cave with dozens of books laid out over the table, looking exhausted."

"I knew there was a potion that could allow a barren woman to have a child," continued Ikuno, "I knew some of the requirements and that I could help out in a way no other magic-user could."

"How do you mean?" asked Kal.

"Potions like this are a trade-off, you can't get something for nothing. In order for the potion to work both parents have to sacrifice half of their lifeforce to make the child. Sometimes the parents regenerate their lifeforce, sometimes they fade away," Ikuno shot a glare at Kal's mother. "Since my lifeforce replenishes so quickly I thought I could make it safer for your mother and father by adding some of my own into the mix."

"Hold on," said Perra, "Does this mean that in a way you are Kal's mother?"

Ikuno chuckled, "No, he is most definitely the product of his mother and father. However, my contribution is likely the reason he can absorb magic energy from the world around him." She turned back to Kal, "I was going to have to hunt for some of the ingredients, so I told your mother to come back in two months."

"Those were the two most nerve-wracking months of my life. Hope that she could fix me and fear that she wouldn't be able to were constantly on my mind. Your father admitted later that he thought I was going crazy during that time, if I'd had to wait much longer he may have been right."

"Then what about these? How did you end up with them, Ikuno?" asked Kal, holding up the books.

"Those were my price for the potion, I told your mother to bring back her three most treasured possessions. To be honest, I wasn't sure what she might bring. Coming from a peasant girl and farmer, books were probably the last things I expected." Ikuno turned back to Kal's mother, "I will say, you bringing me books as your most precious belonging made me feel like I wasn't throwing away my time doing that for you."

"After two months I showed back up at the cave with the books, this time she met me out front and guided me into her home. Ikuno took my books and gave me the potion…"

"With some very specific instructions, I might add," said Ikuno sounding annoyed.

"Yes, with some very specific instructions. That was the last time I saw Ikuno until today. I ran home and had to wait a couple more days until the middle of my cycle. That time it was a success and a few months later you were born."

"Merantha," growled Ikuno, "tell him the whole truth."

Kal's mother sighed, "Ikuno told me that both your father and I would need to be holding the bottle as I drank the potion. That way it would take some lifeforce from both of us to make me fertile, I didn't know about Ikuno's lifeforce being part of it until tonight." She took a shuddering breath, "I couldn't tell him. After thinking I was sleeping around on him then thinking that I was going completely crazy, I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I was damaged and the only way we could have a child was through magic. That night I took the potion all by myself and tripped your father into bed."

"I had given up a third of my lifeforce when making the potion. This meant that if she had done as I asked they both would have stayed above the halfway mark and not been in any danger of fading away."

"But that would have meant that Mother lost two-thirds of her lifeforce making me. By what you said before, being that low she should have faded," said Kal.

"Should have." Ikuno sighed, "I hate telling you this right now but I didn't just avenge your father and grandparent's deaths when I killed that werewolf, I avenged your mother too."

"Now I'm really confused," said Kal with Perra nodding in agreement.

"Go on, Ikuno," Kal's mother urged the oni.

"When Kal was telling me about your history he said that you never took another man, that his father was your soulmate," Merantha nodded, "If that was the case then he would have helped bolster you until your lifeforce could begin to regenerate on its own. Unfortunately, it's a very slow process for humans and…"

"My father was killed before mother reached the halfway point," said Kal as Ikuno nodded in agreement.

"I think if the werewolf had come a year, possibly two, later then your mother would have been fine, Kal."

Kal took his mother's hand in his, "How on earth did you manage to hang on for so long?"

Ikuno opened her mouth but Kal's mother shook her head, "I think I have the answer to this one. You, Kal. I held on for so long for you."

"You said yourself Kal that this all started not long after you came of age. Each time she has become noticeably weaker has been when you did something showing your independence," explained Ikuno. Kal hated to admit it, but she was right, he just hadn't been able to see the connection.

"I've watched my son become a fine young man, a man that his father would be ever so proud of," she said smiling up at him and squeezing his hand. "Help me up, Kal," his mother asked. She left a hand on his shoulder and gestured to Perra with the other. "Perra, I'm truly amazed at the woman you have become, so different from the frightened child who first arrived here," she said, raising a shaky hand to the girl's cheek before drawing her in. Kal's mother looked straight forward, "You too Ikuno." The oni gingerly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the woman. Merantha pulled in Kal and Perra on either side until they both reached around the oni's and his mother's back and clasped hands. Kal gritted his teeth in an attempt to control his emotions while tears flowed freely down Ikuno and Perra's cheeks.

"Twenty years ago, you gave me a wonderful baby boy who I've loved and cared for and protected as best I could. Today, I give him back to you."

Kal's mother let out a contented sigh and sagged into Ikuno's shoulder, her arms slipping from around Kal and Perra's necks and falling to the bed.

Kal choked back a sob as he waited for his mother to take another breath.

She never did.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The boys made short work of constructing Merantha's pyre. They even went so far as to have the harpies go and search the forest for wood that was pleasant and aromatic when burned. Perra thought it was a wonderful gesture considering only one of them, Tain, had ever met Kal's mother. That had only been for a couple of minutes on one of the rare occasions Merantha had been out in the main room and he'd had to ask Kal a question.

Perra had taken to calling them 'the boys' shortly after they came to work at the farm. The irony that she was actually the youngest of all of them was not lost on the hired hands or the harpies. Instead of being insulted, they wore the moniker proudly. Telling Kal at one point that there was a degree of status they'd never experienced before among the townsfolk for being one of Master Kal and Lady Perra's 'boys.'

Perra and Ikuno watched from the steps of the porch as off in the distance one of the harpies landed next to a young man with an axe hung through a loop on his belt. Standing on one leg she handed him a twig, after a quick inspection and a sniff at the end where she had broken it off, he nodded. The young man turned his back to her and held his arms out. The harpy then carefully hopped onto his shoulders and a moment later they were climbing into the air heading back the way she had come from.

"They make a good team," said Ikuno, thankful for something to take her mind off recent events.

"Uh-huh," Perra replied absently as she leaned against one of the large poles holding up the roof of the porch.

"Are you going to be okay, Perra?" Ikuno asked.

Perra gave her a weak smile, "I'll be fine. No offense intended towards Kal, but losing my own mother and father was much worse. It's strange how different it feels, when my mother and father died I was so hysterical that the apothecary had to give me something to calm me down. Now," Perra put a hand over her chest, "it's more of a dull ache, knowing I'll never see her again."

"You and Kal were probably lucky that you knew this was coming for some time, it wasn't sudden like with your parents."

Perra nodded, "That's true. Still, I can't help being worried about Kal. He was too young to remember his father and grandparents dying. In a way, this is his first time dealing with this kind of loss."

"Kal is far more resilient than I think you give him credit for. There may be some rough spots in the near future but I'm certain he will be fine in the end."

"I don't doubt you, however, I do wish that Master Jurien hadn't been so insistent on taking care of the legal part of all of this right now. I can feel Kal's anger bubbling just below the surface."

Ikuno glanced at the door behind her with a frown before nodding in agreement.

Kal was sitting in the main room thinking the exact same thing as Perra while Jurien explained what was going to happen next. "The next time the council convenes you will be written in as the new owner of this property and a new writ of ownership will be drawn up to reflect your entire holdings. After that, it's just a matter of updating the maps. All that new paperwork will need your mark to make things official once it's been drafted.

"Though I hated to see Mera go, It was a good call to have me and Nina here. I know that there were a couple of your mother's suitors from years ago who had eyes on this property once they heard she fell ill. Now, if they raise a challenge to you taking possession it's not just your word against theirs but mine and Nina's as well."

"It was Perra's idea," Kal mumbled, staring down at his hands.

"You're a lucky one with that girl, she's got a good head on her shoul…"

"You said, someone might challenge my claim to this property?"

"Aye, not that they would have much to say with me and the wife being here to support you."

"I understand that part, but how could they expect to have any kind of claim?"

Jurien sighed, "I wish your mother had told you about this instead of leaving it up to me. Women aren't supposed to be landowners, Kal. When your mother sold her parents' farm she used most of that money to pay off some of the council members to have her installed officially as your steward. This allowed her to be a landowner until either she passed away or you asserted your claim to the land once you came of age. I'm surprised she never brought it up."

Kal's hands clenched, "Oh, she did, many times in fact. I was just too stupid to understand what she was saying and hated the idea of the farm not being hers. As usual, I was being a child about things and not listening. After a while she stopped bugging me about it, that was shortly before she started getting sick."

Jurien looked at the boy with concern, Kal had yet to look up from his hands. Clearing his throat, he continued, "The reason there might be challengers is that what she did wasn't exactly "legal" and a few people found out about it. Stewardship is supposed to be reserved for nobles and the such, not commoners like us. Also, stewards of male heirs are supposed to be men themselves. People could say that the property was never truly hers to pass on to you because she never should have been allowed to keep it without marrying again."

Kal watched as his knuckles turned white. "Fine, let them come," he said through gritted teeth, "if they want to dirty my mother's name after all she did for me then let anyone who challenges my right to this property know that, in turn, I challenge them to an old-fashioned duel." His voice dropped into a snarl, "Just to keep things interesting I won't use any magic either. They can't claim my land if they're dead."

Jurien leaned forward and covered Kal's hands with his own, "That's enough, Kal, you won't be killing anyone." It took everything in his power not to flinch away from the glowing blue eyes that looked up at him. The apothecary could see the anger in the boy's face and immediately regretted mentioning the possibility someone might try to interfere with his inheritance. The simple fact was that, regardless of his and Nina's word, the chances of someone speaking up against the young mage were slim to none. Even ignoring the excellent reputation Kal had built in town, most people were quite aware that pissing off a wizard was rarely conducive to a long and peaceful life.

"I know that look," said Jurien, "I wore it when my own father passed away. Angry at the world and willing to punch your way through a tree if it got in your way."

Kal slowly nodded, that was a fairly accurate description of how he felt right now.

Jurien leaned back in his chair, "Back then, I ran. Saddled up one of the horses and damn near rode it to death. Screamed my head off and bawled like a newborn babe till I couldn't scream or cry anymore."

Kal glared at him, "Is that what you suggest I do? Run away?"

"No," said the apothecary, shaking his head, "You'll need to be back by sundown to say your final goodbyes. I am suggesting that you burn off some of that anger you're keeping bottled up before you hurt someone you care about more than you already have."

Kal's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean I've been right here since mother passed."

"Think about your women. If what Lady Perra said is true about this 'bonding' thing, they can't be enjoying your mood." Master Jurien knew it was mildly unfair to use the women against the boy, however, from the look on Kal's face, it worked.

Kal closed his eyes for a moment, looking closely through the bond at each of the girls. They all told the same story, they wanted to console him and be supportive during this difficult time but kept quiet in fear of turning his anger towards them. Cursing himself for being blind to the feelings of the people he claimed to love he stood up and willed his cloak from the peg where it hung by the door to his hand.

Without even glancing back at Master Jurien he walked out the door, stopping next to Ikuno and Perra who were still sitting on the steps.

"Kal?" Perra quietly asked when he didn't say anything for a minute.

Hearing her voice, he looked over at Perra, then Ikuno, then off toward the northeast, roughly in the direction of Aradelle, Bea, Gerda, and Bas. "Forgive me, but I need to be alone. Truly alone. I'm sorry." Perra looked on with dismay as his thoughts faded from her mind. Ikuno, however, doubled over, a look of pain etched on her face.

"There I go again," said Kal bitterly, "hurting the ones I love." He put two fingers under her chin lifted her head up till she was looking into his eyes.

"Please, don't," she whispered.

"It's only for a few hours. I need this Ikuno."

The oni took his hand in hers and pressed it against her cheek, then kissed his palm before letting go. "Hurry back," she pleaded.

Kal nodded and stepped off the porch as his haste rune spun up. He looked north toward the trail he and Ikuno had taken along the base of the mountain ridge then south toward Telsin and the main roads extending out from the small hamlet. Deciding on north, Kal streaked off towards the forest edge. Perra and Ikuno watched as he launched himself high up into the air with a flash of red light from the strength rune, then used his cloak to pick a landing spot among the trees. He dropped below the canopy and a few moments later they saw him jump high above the treetops again a bit further on.

Once Kal was out of sight and she turned back toward the oni, "Ikuno! Are you alright?" asked Perra in a worried tone. The large blue woman looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"No, I'm not. None of us will be until he lets us back in. This is the first time since he claimed me that I haven't been able to feel him, it's like a part of me is missing."

Seeing the pain in the oni's eyes Perra suddenly wondered if she really wanted to share a similar bond with her lover.

Kal reached the base of the mountain range and looked to the east and west. West led to Felli's mountain cavern and east would take him to the fissure that led to Silma. Overall it didn't matter so Kal faced east and sped off along the game trail. Trees and shrubs whipped past him at breakneck speeds as the world became blurry. Taking Master Jurien's advice he felt the anger slowly drain out of him as his tears were stripped away by the wind. Remembering the second part of what the apothecary said, he took a deep breath…

The sun was just disappearing beneath the treetops as Kal arrived back at the farm. Perra had been with Ikuno when he opened up the bond and told them he was on his way home, the shift in the oni's mood had been nothing short of stunning to the girl. She knew well enough that Ikuno loved Kal as much as she did but the look of pure joy on the oni's face when Kal started talking to them again showed Perra just how important he was to the large blue woman. As he crossed the fields, approaching where they were standing waiting for him, for just a moment Perra saw that same kind of happiness in his face when he looked at Ikuno. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a similar expression as his gaze turned to her.

They built his mother's pyre right next to where his father's had been, on the southwestern edge of the fields. As Kal approached he noticed that there were a few more people there than anticipated. Perra, Ikuno, the boys along with the harpies, and Master Jurien with Lady Nina were all expected. However, Rone, Marda, and Felli were not.

Kal exchanged handshakes and thanks for being there with Rone and Marda, who now had a bit of a baby bump. Felli wrapped her wings around him in a tight hug, her eyes brimming with tears for the young mage's loss. After greeting Rone's family he went and stood between Ikuno and Perra. Jurien and Nina both said a few words about his mother then offered to let him speak. Kal shook his head, not trusting his voice. Jurien motioned to one of the boys, Corben, who then handed the apothecary something.

"Would you do the honors?" Master Jurien asked, holding out the flint and steel.

Kal nodded but pushed the firestarter aside. Walking up to the pyre he saw that Lady Nina had done an excellent job, his mother looked wonderful. The apothecary's wife had put her into one of her favorite dresses with a crown of summer flowers that Perra had picked and woven together circling her head. There were more flowers scattered about her body as well as the platform where Ikuno had laid her. As a final show of respect, the oni had offered to be the one to move the body from the bed to here,

He reached up and placed his hand over his mother's, "Say hello to father for me."

Stepping back, he summoned a ball of flame in each hand. Kal poured more power into the flames until they were columns that shot up over his head. Carefully turning his hands, he directed the jets of fire at the base of the funeral pyre and began walking around it, quickly igniting all of the tinder the boys had placed near the bottom. When he came back to where he started, the flames shooting from his hands sputtered and died as he ran out of magic, having burnt through most of it during his cathartic run earlier.

Perra and Ikuno came up on either side of him, both putting a hand on his shoulder. "The boys said they would keep an eye on things," said Perra, "Let's go home."

Kal silently nodded as he allowed them to lead him away.

The world felt gray the first week his mother was gone. Little things that he had never paid attention to were now stark reminders that she was no longer here. Her chair in the living room, pots and pans that Perra now used to make their meals, even crawling into bed at night knowing that this had been his mother's bed for years sent him sinking into depression.

By the second week, he began to pull out of his funk. The ache from her loss was still there and his old room was still off limits, but he began smiling more and even started being more affectionate towards Perra.

Towards the end of that second week, he woke up to an empty bed and the smell of breakfast cooking. After finishing up his morning routine he discovered that food was not the first thing on his mind. Coming up behind Perra as she worked in the kitchen he slid his arms under hers and cupped her breasts through her dress as he began to kiss and nibble on her neck.

The young woman moaned at the sensation, "Please tell me you aren't joking," she whispered.

He pressed up against her rear, "I want you in bed, now."

Perra looked around the kitchen at everything she had going on, "Nope," she said, hiking up her dress and leaning over the dining table. "You can take me to bed after breakfast. Right now, I need you inside me. I wasn't expecting anything this morning, so I might be a little dry."

She had anticipated that Kal would just start out slowly and squealed with surprise when he pulled her cheeks apart and took a couple of long licks from her clit all the way up to her rear entrance. Once he was sure she was ready he happily sunk his hard prick into her willing pussy. Since she was still in the middle of cooking he decided to make a game out of lasting until the food was done, this turned out more difficult than expected after going without for nearly two weeks. Perra made things easier by calling for him to stop every so often so she could stir a pot or check on something baking before bending back over the table and shaking her bottom at him in invitation. It wasn't until she told him breakfast was almost ready and he needed to finish up that he realized she was making quite a bit more than what the two of them could eat. Putting it out of his mind for the moment he slid into Perra's sex and grabbed her hips, slamming into her hard and fast. After nearly an hour of slow buildup, Kal came with a yell as he buried himself inside her pussy and did his best to fill her up for the first time in two weeks.

Panting he leaned over and rested his hands on the table as Perra hummed contentedly while milking him with her sex. "I think someone needed that as much as I did," she purred, resting her head on her arms and relaxing as Kal caught his breath.

"You didn't…"

"No, I didn't," Perra lifted up and twisted partway around so she could look at him, "and you shouldn't worry about it. I'm sure you will take care of that many times over today," she said smiling. "As I said, I wasn't expecting you to be in this kind of mood, so I wasn't ready." She turned back around and stretched out like a cat on the tabletop, "After two weeks, like hell I was going to let this chance get away."

"You make it sound like we won't be able to do this again."

"What time of the month is it, Kal?"

"Aww dammit…"

"Yup, that's why you are going to take me to bed and make love to me the rest of the day as soon as the girls have left."

"The girls?"

"The harpies. Much as I want you to stay right where you are, they should be here soon, so we should at least be presentable."

Perra tightened up as Kal slowly pulled back with a disappointed groan. Once he slipped free she spun around and went to her knees. After giving him a thorough inspection, she took his half-hard prick into her mouth and gently cleaned him with her tongue. When her tongue had been over every inch of him numerous times, and Kal felt he was about to start getting hard again, Perra tucked him back into his trousers and pulled them back into place.

She directed him to the chair at the head of the table as she went about making three lunches, each heavily loaded with meats and large enough for two people.

"What's all this for?"

"Last week I made everyone lunches a couple of times as a way of saying thanks for their help. I decided to make it a once-a-week thing, just to show our appreciation for what they do."

"As much as the girls are helping out I'm starting to think that we should start paying them too."

"Don't you dare bring that up to them," Perra warned. "When I mentioned it, I thought the biggest one, Ghoss, was going to rip my head off."

Kal's eyes widened, "Why?" he asked, looking concerned. Was Perra in danger from the harpies?

"Verbally, Kal, not actually rip my head off," she explained, guessing at the reason for the look on his face. "The girls have mates who are not trying to run away and a sense of security they've never known before, plus I think one or two might have a chick on the way already. As Kuto put it, 'You've given us the world and now you want to pay us as if everything you've done already wasn't good enough.' That's why Ghoss got upset at the idea."

"Sounds like they are happy enough working for their boarding?"

"Correct," said Perra as she finished assembling the last of the lunches. "Homes, mates, chicks, a backup place to live if something goes wrong here. When you think about it, Kal, you've given them quite a bit already."

Kal nodded, he hadn't really thought about the harpies' situations in the way Perra described, but then he hadn't really talked with them much, preferring to talk with the men.

At the same time Perra finished loading up her and Kal's plates, there was a loud flapping of three sets of wings as the harpies landed in front of the farmhouse. A few seconds later one of the girls lightly tapped on the door.

Perra flashed Kal a mischievous grin before yelling, "Come in!"

The three harpies entered and made their way towards the table where the lunches were wrapped up and waiting for them. They each bid Perra good morning and seemed especially pleased to see Kal up and about. Kal was mildly embarrassed to think that this was the earliest he had been out of bed since his mother passed. The couple engaged them in some light conversation, however, the longer they talked, the more distracted the harpies seemed to become. Finally, Ghoss excused herself and grabbed the linen-wrapped package meant for her and Tain. A few moments later Ruce and Kuto were right behind, making a hasty retreat to the door then getting airborne as soon as they cleared the porch.

As soon as Kuto was in the air, Perra began laughing so hard she was soon holding her stomach. Kal looked at the woman like she had gone insane, "Care to tell me what's so humorous?"

Perra wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. "After what you did to Gerda you can't see why this is so funny?"

Kal groaned leaning back in his chair, "Monster girls are sensitive to scents, and we did it right here on the table only a little while ago."

Perra giggled, "Don't expect any work to get done until this afternoon."

"It's a good thing they work fast. Did you plan this?"

"No, but it was quite the turn-on watching all three of them getting worked up because of our activities earlier," she said while giving Kal a look of hunger that had nothing to do with food. "Eat up, we have an appointment to keep in the bedroom."

They got lucky and Perra didn't start until the next day. Other than the normal discomforts of this time of the month, she wasn't complaining. She had gotten her day with Kal and was now insistent that he go visit the other girls to spend some time with them as well.

Shouldering his pack, he was about to step out the door when he received a strong feeling of excitement from Bea. The image she sent to him was what looked like a large amber colored ball with ridges running down the sides. It wasn't until a moment later that he received a strong feeling of pride for her daughter that Kal realized that this was about the time she said she was going to lay her egg. Kal shook his head, first seeds, now eggs. He was becoming more thankful of Sandy and Bas, at least they had children in a more human fashion. Then again he might want to ask about that, it was entirely possible that they gave birth to a stone shelled egg or something.

Kal shifted his pack and reached for the door when Perra stopped him.

"Kal what are you doing?"

He looked at her in confusion, he had been fairly certain he'd gone over his plans with her already. "First, I'm heading to Ikuno's, then going to see Aradelle if I have time. Bea just told me that she laid her egg, so I will probably go visit her for a bit then spend some time with Gerda and Bas before she goes back to her home. Why?"

"Not that," she said rolling her eyes, "Why are you carrying your pack?"

Kal stood there dumbfounded at his own foolishness. Looking down at the pouch tied to his belt he softly called out, "Ria."

When the ghostly sprite appeared next to the bag she quickly looked around. Not seeing Kal's mother the top and skirt she was wearing faded until she was nude again. The simple action made Perra and Kal both flinch, Kal's mother had been the only one to make a fuss about the avatar's nudity. The reminder hurt Kal, but it no longer felt like he was spiraling into sadness, as he had up until a few days ago.

"How can I help you Master Kal?" asked the sprite as she flew up and sat on the strap of his pack where it rested on his shoulder.

Kal slid his pack off, dislodging the sprite, and held it up, "First, would you store this and get my staff for me, please?" he said, waving goodbye to Perra and walking out the front door. "Second, some things have happened since I summoned you last."

Every time she was about to leave Bas seemed to find some obscure reason to stay a bit longer. Kal could hardly complain, having the older golem around was doing wonders for Gerda. She showed the younger golem how to smooth out the rock portions of her body in a manner similar to hers as well as giving Gerda a needed talking too about eating too many gems and other 'sweet rocks.' By the end of her third week there, the first week since Kal shook off his depression, he could already see a small difference in Gerda's body.

Surprisingly, he wasn't very fond of it. Despite having body parts made of rock, Gerda was always the 'soft' one. Ikuno was lean and muscular while all the rest, including Bas, were well toned, whether it was by choice as with Bas and 'Dell or by lifestyle as with Perra and Bea. Still, he was proud of her for making the effort, even if somewhere in the back of his mind he hoped she kept some of her curves.

Bas had also been a huge help to Kal with his geomancy. She had hundreds of years more experience than Gerda and showed it by being totally unimpressed with the young wizard's abilities, then demonstrating to everyone exactly why she was unimpressed.

Kal and Ikuno took Gerda and Bas up to their small pool with the intent of outlining what Ikuno wanted the shower and pool area to look like eventually. Kal had started on it with Gerda only offering direction for now, later on she would come behind him and do a lot of the finer finish work.

Bas looked at the partial dome structure he had built over the pool and laughed before asking Ikuno what it was they were trying to make. The oni explained in great detail what she was imagining as the basalt colored golem asked a variety of questions before finally nodding in understanding.

Turning around to see what Kal had built she made a dismissive wave of her hand and the structure shattered and crumbled, the action was so quick the mage didn't even see how she had done it. Nor did he get a chance to be upset that his work had been reduced to gravel before Bas raised a hand and began walking forward, pulling a large upside-down half-circle of hand-thick stone out of the mountainside just above the waterfall. With what looked like no effort she covered the entire bathing area except the pool. When Ikuno mentioned that the shower area was now dark while glancing over at Kal, Bas just nodded before grabbing Gerda's hand and sinking into the ground.

A little while later they both appeared carrying a number of very large crystals. Gerda quickly went about reducing them to powder as Bas started making large rectangular holes in the roof. Bas took the powder from the crystals and inspected it as she made it flow past her ruby eye, a stream of white particles flowing up into the holes she had just made while darker dust and sand was discarded. When the area was slightly overfilled she stopped the flow of powder.

By this time Kal's eyes were glowing and he was trying desperately to keep up with what the older golem was doing. He watched in fascination as the magic flowing from Bas formed a container that was holding the white crystal dust. With a motion of her hand, the container took on a fuzzy appearance and began to compact and compress its contents. His eyes widened with surprise as the powder started to glow faintly red. He was just starting to wonder what kind of magic crystals Bas had destroyed to form this white powder when he began to feel the warmth radiating from it and realized she was just heating it up. Kal received another surprise when after a few minutes of glowing red, the powder suddenly got even brighter, right before turning into a liquid. Bas adjusted the container then formed it into the rectangular hole she had made earlier. With that done all they could do was wait until the material cooled. Once it was cold enough to hold its shape Bas dispelled the container and moved on to the next hole.

As Gerda went to get more of the crystals to finish up the skylights, Bas explained to Kal that the crystals were quartz and that she was heating the powder by making the individual pieces vibrate against one another. She also explained that molten and solid rock was still made up of the same thing, therefore geomancy could be used on things like lava and her fused quartz windows. Kal spent the next few hours watching Bas work, trying to memorize and copy the way she used her magic so quickly and efficiently.

Ikuno was absolutely thrilled with the end result. Bas put up a half-dome that covered the pool area on the end of what she had made so far, then put large triangular windows that ran nearly to the apex of the dome around the outside. She also made a number of other modifications that gave Kal and Ikuno the impression that she had done something similar before, such as making a large plate with holes for the water to come through that they could easily fit four people under when taking showers together. By the time the sun was going down all that was left was for Kal to set up the runes for flow control and heat. Thankfully, Bas had shown him the most likely way the ancients had made the water heaters up in Felli's cave. Kal did take some pride in that what Bas showed him was nearly identical to how he had expected them to work.

Kal now stood and waved as Bas and Gerda walked into the side of Ikuno's mountain, striking out on their journey back to Bas's home far to the east. The last week had felt hectic with all of the women demanding his attention. They weren't really being demanding but the desire to spend some time with him was strong enough for him to feel through their bonds. Since they had been so patient with him over the last few weeks, Kal felt it was only proper to put their wants at the top of his priorities. With visits made to Bea and Aradelle and the last few days spent with Ikuno, Gerda, and Bas, he was looking forward to a chance to unwind. His only real concern at that moment was whether he should head back to the farmhouse where Perra was waiting for him or stay here and spend some more time with Ikuno.

He had just come to the decision to spend today and tonight with Ikuno, largely because he was already there, when he got a strong impression from Perra. Kahrin was sitting on a horse in front of his house looking very sad. He cursed under his breath as he went to find Ikuno and let her know he was leaving.

"Ellis doesn't believe he's got much time left and wants to get his affairs in order before he passes," explained Kahrin as they handed over Bonn and the barmaid's horse to the stableboy.

"I just went through all this with my mother not long ago," grumped Kal, "I know I can't stop time, but I wish he'd been able to hold out a bit longer."

"I'm especially curious as to why he needed me here," said Perra.

"That wasn't Master Ellis," said Kahrin as she led Kal and Perra out of the stables and turned toward the inn. "Master Jurien was the one insistin' ye come along too."

The couple followed the barmaid the rest of the way to the inn in confused silence.

It was still early in the day so Kal hadn't expected there to be too many patrons. However, walking into a completely empty dining area was a bit unexpected. Seeing his expression, Kahrin explained that Master Jurien and Master Tanner had run everyone off claiming council business. Across the room and just beyond the stairs to the second floor was Master Ellis's quarters with the door open wide.

Ellis's room was about twice the size of the rooms he rented out and quite a bit larger than Kahrin's, which was little more than a closet with a bed. Various decorative trinkets adorned the walls from his travels before he decided to settle down here in Telsin. Ellis was sitting up in his bed wearing a simple white housecoat while Ada sat on a stool next to the bed looking dejected. Master Jurien and a scowling Master Tanner had both gotten chairs from the dining room and were sitting along the wall not far from the foot of the bed, speaking with the innkeeper.

"Master Kal! Lady Perra! It's wonderful to see you!" said Ellis as they walked in before sitting up a bit straighter in bed. Without a word, Kahrin nodded to each one of the council members before excusing herself and making her way back to the dining room.

"It's good to hear your voice again Master Ellis, I've honestly forgotten how long it's been since you and I last spoke," said Kal as he approached the bed. Taking Jurien and Master Tanner's lead, Perra quickly went back out to the dining area and grabbed a couple of chairs for them to sit on while Kal and Ellis talked. "Jurien and I spoke a little while ago about you while I was out on some business, I'll admit I was hoping this call would come a long time from now."

Ellis chuckled, "I won't be falling over dead in front of your face, I still have some time left." Kal, Perra, and Jurien all winced. "Oh, Kal! I'm so sorry! That was an awful thing for me to say. Jurien was actually just telling us about the day your mother passed, I'd heard about it right after it happened but didn't know the details until now. In my head, I was wanting you not to worry but it came out in the worst possible way."

"It's okay Master Ellis, it caught me off guard is all. I know you wouldn't have done that on purpose. Speaking of purpose," Kal said sitting down near Ada in the chair Perra had provided for him, "What exactly is your purpose for calling on me? I understand that you have been looked at by far better healers than myself."

Ellis sighed, "Straight to business, is it? As you wish. I'm counting down weeks, perhaps even days," Ada choked back a sob, "after some long discussions with some of the other council members I am asking you to take my place upon the town council."

Kal leaned back, even with Jurien's advance notice he found he still wasn't fully prepared for what Ellis was asking. Regardless, he didn't have a good enough reason to deny the dying man's request. Kal slowly nodded his head.

"Wonderful!" Ellis looked over at Jurien and Master Tanner, "I hereby relinquish my position on the town council and bequeath it to Master Kal the runesmith."

"Witnessed and recognized," said Master Jurien.

"Witnessed and recognized," said Master Tanner then turned to Kal, "The council has already approved your appointment. Since this was proposed by Jurien, I'll let him fill you in on the details of council workings."

Jurien snorted, "Give it a rest Tanner, you've not once ever taken a new member under your wing and shown him the ropes. Also, it was Ellis's idea, not mine. I just made the proposal since Ellis couldn't." He looked over at Kal, "Would you care to choose your second now?"

Jurien's insistence on having Perra there as well made sense now, "I choose Perra to act as my second."

Perra was staring at Ada wishing she could gather up the despondent girl in her arms and comfort her when she heard Kal say her name. Looking over at the men she saw that they were all staring at her. "Wait, I'm what now?"

Jurien held back a laugh at the girl's expense, "He's naming you as his representative at council during times when he can't be there."

Master Tanner glared at Kal, "Don't you know a man you could choose?"

Kal returned the stare without backing down, "No, I don't. I assure you that if you are wanting my opinion on something, few people in the world know me better than Perra."

"Really, Tanner, there are enough women serving as seconds for council members I'm amazed you would still be carrying on about such things," Ellis scoffed.

"They slow things down, saying a thousand words when ten will do."

"Pardon me for a moment," interrupted Kal, "I apologize if this question seems odd. Is Tanner your name or your profession?"

Master Tanner's scowl deepened, "Both, Tanner is my surname and has been as long as my family has been working hides." He turned his scowl towards Ellis, "Perhaps you made a poor decision for your replacement?"

Ellis smiled, "Not at all, I didn't figure it out until I had known you for some time either." Tanner's frown deepened at the innkeeper's admission. "Since we are taking care of business, Lady Perra would you bring Kahrin here?"

"Certainly!" she said hopping up from the chair. Before she left she fixed Master Tanner with a fake smile and said through gritted teeth, "By the way, Kal, I accept the position of being your second," then flounced out the door to go fetch Kahrin.

Tanner's face darkened further. Kal had a feeling that if he hadn't been sitting right here Perra would have gotten an earful from the man. Jurien was also observing the senior councilman's face, although he seemed to be deriving an inordinate amount of pleasure from the man's foul mood.

Master Jurien looked over at Kal, "Quite the spirit that one has. Is she that feisty at home?"

"Only when I've done something to piss her off."

"Sounds like you need to put that girl over your knee and teach her to respect her betters," said Tanner in little more than a growl.

Kal was starting to understand why Jurien was enjoying seeing the man pissed off, he was beginning to feel the same way. With a smirk, he shot a quick glance at the apothecary, "I have, but I assure you that it had nothing to do with teaching her any respect. I'd ask you to be more cautious as to who you consider 'betters.' Perra's an exceptional woman and I'm proud to say she's mine."

Tanner's lip curled for a moment as an internal struggle waged in his mind between setting this pup straight and taking a chance on making an enemy of the young wizard. Self-preservation won out in the end and he sat back hard on the chair and crossed his arms, glaring at the mage. Seeing the man's tendons stick out on his neck from clenching his teeth, Kal now understood exactly why Jurien was so happy.

Ellis started with a low chuckle but quickly ramped up to belly-aching guffaws, by the look on his face, Master Jurien desperately wanted to join him. "Kal, you are a blessing in this time I have left, never thought I'd see the day Tanner would be put squarely in his place," said the innkeeper as he wiped tears of laughter from his face. "I suggest you leave Tanner, I'll be handing over the inn next and you won't want to be here for that."

Confusion followed by understanding flashed across the man's face as he jumped up out of his seat. "You can't do that!" snarled Master Tanner. "That… thing… cannot be seen as a property owner in this town! The council will never stand for it!"

Ellis stared at Tanner, his eyes as cold and hard as his voice. "You know as well as I do that our charter only forbids monster girls from holding positions of influence," he said. "Last I checked Bren is very much a man, much to the enjoyment of my barmaids and even a few adventurous female travelers. Despite his ancestry, he's proven himself to be a good man. Your hang-ups about non-humans are the only thing preventing you from seeing him for who he is." He looked knowingly at Jurien and Kal before returning to Master Tanner, "I have two recognized Masters of the town and both council members at that. Your presence is no longer wanted or needed. Leave."

Tanner's face was nearly purple with impotent rage. Ellis was frustratingly correct about the charter and the requirements for naming an heir. He opened his mouth to speak, his jaw snapping shut a moment later. What good would it do to threaten a man staring death in the face? Instead, he spun on his heel and stomped out of the room, forcing Perra to dance out of the way to keep from being run over as she came back with Kahrin and Bren in tow.

The room was deathly quiet until they heard the front door slam hard enough to rattle the windows. Jurien immediately began hooting with laughter immediately followed by Ellis and Kal.

"No," mumbled Ada holding her eyes tightly closed.

Perra, Kahrin, and Bren entered the room and saw the three men laughing to the point Jurien had nearly fallen out of his chair.

"Stop it," whispered the blonde barmaid but no one heard.

"What the hell are ye all on about now?" asked Kahrin "I'm hopin' ye haven't pissed off Master Tanner so much he tries to make our lives difficult after ye've gone," she said giving the innkeeper a stern look.

"STOP IT!" all noise ceased as Ada yelled while standing up from her stool. "How the bloody 'ell can ya all sit around 'ere laughin'!" she screamed at the three men. "There's a man dyin' right in front of ya. How the fuck can ya be findin' things funny at a time like this!" She rounded on Ellis, "And you! Givin' up! I know ya said the healers can't 'elp ya but fer fuck's sake that doesn't mean ya need ta jus' curl up an' die!"

Ellis looked up at the blonde barmaid with sadness even as she continued her tirade. He'd explained these things to her many times and knew that deep down she understood there really wasn't any help for him.

As Ada continued to rant she seemed to be getting close to hysteria. Kal looked down at the pouch hanging from his belt, "Ria, I need one of those packets of dust." A speck of light floated out of the bag and landed in his upturned palm then turned into a tiny packet made of light cloth. Kal reached in and picked up a pinch of gray dust and flicked it in the girl's direction making sure at least a little bit landed on her head. Folding up the packet and putting it in his pocket he drew a rune in the air. Kal quickly moved behind Ada when the specks of dust began to glow, holding her up as her head drooped and she fell fast asleep.

Picking the girl up Kal looked at Ellis, "She should wake up somewhere she feels safe."

Despite his travels, Ellis was consistently amazed when he saw magic done right in front of him. The innkeeper had to shake off his momentary astonishment before answering, "Her room is right next to Kahrin's."

"Like fuckin' hell yer letting her wake up alone," said Kahrin as she walked over to the bed and threw back the covers. "Move over," she told Ellis in a voice that left no room for argument. Ellis did as commanded and Kahrin directed Kal to lay the blonde barmaid down next to him. Even in her sleep, she curled protectively around the innkeeper. "There's nay anywhere in the world the lass feels safer than right where she is," said Kahrin.

"Poor girl, I wish things were different," Ellis said as he ran his fingers through her hair earning a sleepy murmur of contentment from the barmaid. "Even when I told her it was useless she's been so determined to give me an heir." He looked up at the other people in the room, "We should get the rest of our business done while she's asleep. Jurien? What's next?"

The apothecary made a dismissive gesture, "Just say the words, Ellis. Tanner's not here so we can leave the formalities for the council meetings. As long as the paperwork is drawn up correctly it doesn't matter much."

The innkeeper nodded and beckoned Bren to stand next to Kahrin. "From this day forth the inn belongs to you two as co-owners. You've done a wonderful job keeping up the place while I've been bedridden. It only feels fair to let you continue."

Kahrin shook her head her eyes misting over, "I don't like this, yer too young, but I accept."

"As do I," said Bren solemnly.

There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence before Kal spoke up, "Now that that's all taken care of. I've been thinking a lot about your situation since Jurien and I talked, and I would like to try something I've had running through my head."

Ellis sighed, "If you're talking about something to help me last a bit longer, I'm sorry but I'm not interested. For too many years I've lived with pain from my sickness as a child. I've fought hard to be here this long, no one knows that better than Master Jurien over there. He nearly ended up owning this inn on a few occasions because the medicines he got for me were so expensive. I'm tired of fighting."

Kal shook his head, "Unfortunately, I couldn't do that even if you wanted me to. However, I was thinking that I may be able to at least give Ada what she's been hoping for. The thing is, I'm going to need some help…"

Lulen stepped into Ellis's room behind the wizard's girl, scowling as her eyes took in the apothecary, the innkeeper with the young barmaid lying next to him in bed, and finally came to rest on the young mage.

"Your woman wouldn't tell me what you needed me for and the sleeping one certainly doesn't look like she needs a midwife," the old crone snapped.

Kal just smiled. "I didn't bring you here for any of the women but for him," he said nodding towards Ellis.

"A man about to go to the great beyond hardly has need of a midwife either."

"Ada desperately wants to have his child before he passes, or at the very least have his child inside her. I think there might be a way to do it, but I need your help."

Lulen's eyes narrowed, "I told ya before, boy, I ain't no witch."

"No, you aren't. I don't think I could even call you a magic-user. However, you have an ability that I don't. When you called on me to help Kahrin's sister you could see into her body with my help. I want to see if you can use some of my power to go a bit further and actually fix things instead of just viewing them."

The old woman stared at Kal for a long time before speaking. "Do you know why I sent your woman and that worthless lout of a husband here to get food and new linens? Because when Master Ellis moved here and built this inn he told me that if I needed something for a birthing he would be happy to help, he'd just collect the cost from the new parents later. To my knowledge he's never called in those debts. Certainly, if someone offered to pay he'd take it, but never did he go looking for the money he lost."

Kal gave the innkeeper a questioning look.

Ellis just shrugged. "I knew I would never be able to have kids of my own, it was my way of helping," he said.

"For all of his help over the years it's only fair I do this for him. If he doesn't mind an old hag such as myself seeing his cock and balls."

"Welp, that sounds like it's time for me to go have some ale," said Jurien, smiling as he stood up. "Sorry, old friend, but there are parts of you that I've no interest in seeing."

"Some watered wine sounds good about now," Perra said, sneaking out the door in front of the apothecary. Kahrin and Bren had left earlier when Perra went to go get Lulen, leaving only the midwife, Kal, Ada, and Ellis in the room when Jurien closed the door behind him.

"What next Kal?" asked the innkeeper.

The young wizard looked over at Ada then back to Ellis, "I think it would be wise if you went to sleep as well, this is all an experiment and to be honest I don't know if it's going to hurt. My healing runes dull the pain as they work but we won't be using those."

For the first time, a look of apprehension crossed the innkeeper's face. Despite his nervousness, he nodded to Kal to proceed. Kal had him sit on the edge of the bed after carefully extricating himself from Ada's embrace. The young mage considered for a moment telling Ellis that until the sleeping enchantment was dispelled or expired a few hours from now there was no chance of waking the girl. The tenderness the innkeeper showed the blonde barmaid as he slid out of her grasp was too sweet to interrupt so Kal kept his mouth shut. Pulling the packet of dust from his pocket, Kal sprinkled some over the innkeeper and a moment later he was lightly snoring away.

Lulen wasted no time and flipped up the man's housecoat. "Hm, not bad," she said lifting his prick up and laying it against the unconscious innkeeper's stomach then taking the sides of the housecoat and tucking it beneath him, effectively trapping his cock in that position. "Okay wizard, what am I looking for?"

"You know what you are seeing better than I do, look for things that 'feel' wrong. I've done some studying on this area of the body, between the two of us I think we should be able to figure out what's damaged and how to fix it."

"You expect me to work on 'feelings'?" the old woman said, giving Kal an incredulous look.

Kal nodded, "Some magics rely heavily on 'feelings' or 'intent,' I'm hoping that will be the case here. Try focusing on things that were damaged by his sickness and are not as they should be. From there, let the magic do the work for you. Also, it will help if I can touch your skin when I'm loaning you my power."

Lulen undid the top two buttons on her dress and pushed it off the shoulder nearest the wizard. When she felt Kal's hand, she put her own on Ellis's thigh and leaned forward to inspect the innkeeper. At first, nothing much happened but then she felt a slight tingle in her shoulder and slowly she was able to make out the inner structure of the man's genitals. After a few minutes, she sighed and leaned back, "This isn't working. I can see but I don't know what I'm looking at, what it's supposed to look like, or even how it works." She looked up at him and for a moment Kal was worried she was going to ask him to drop his pants. "I need to look at the big man." Suddenly that seemed far worse.

In the room next to Ellis's, Kal could only give Bren a look filled with apologies for putting him through this. Lulen hadn't been happy with just inspecting the inn's strongman and had called Kahrin in so she could see everything 'in action.' Having to stand there and watch with his hand on the midwife's shoulder as Bren received a handjob from Kahrin had been extraordinarily uncomfortable. Having to move around at odd angles so he could keep contact with the old woman as she watched what was going on had just made things worse.

Uncharacteristically, the midwife had jumped up and nearly dragged Kal out of the room as Kahrin was starting to clean her hands and Bren with a towel.

"Well that was uncomfortable," rumbled the big man.

"All fer a good cause. M'sorry if it doesn't quite feel right cleanin' ye the normal way after that," said Kahrin. "If'n it all works out I'll see if I can get ye a special treat later as thanks."

Bren smiled, "Sounds good, as long as I don't have some old lady staring at my cock again, I'm up for just about anything."

"Now I see," said Lulen, "the tubes that run from each of the balls are shriveled and twisted, nothing can get through. What do we do next?" Kal had the strange feeling this woman hadn't been this excited in years, and it had nothing to do with the show Bren had just put on for her.

"Try using the magic I'm giving you to surround the tubes and try to make them work again. Feel it flow from my hand through your arm and into Ellis, directing it where it needs to go."

Lulen nodded and turned back to the innkeeper. Doing as the mage suggested it again took a moment for her to feel the energy passing into and through her. However, the magic flowed not to where the tubes were, but to where they were supposed to be according to what she had just seen in the inn's strongman. As the ghostly image of the repaired tubes hovered over the damaged ones Lulen felt like something was missing, as though the boy's magic wasn't enough. Closing her eyes and reaching inside herself she found what felt like the missing part of the boy's spell. As she fed that into the young wizard's stream of borrowed magic she opened her eyes to see the tubes untwisting and growing healthier until they took the place of the ghostly images.

Gasping in surprise at what she had done, she sat back for just a moment.

"Lulen?" Kal quietly called, trying to get the astonished woman's attention. "Did you do it?" Kal was more than a little confused. He had been able to see where she was directing his magic and watched as the two spots just beneath the skin of the man's scrotum had faded away but had felt only a tiny additional draw from the woman, far too little to make anything happen. Now she was sitting here looking like she had just accomplished something wonderful.

Amazement was replaced with sudden determination on the old woman's face as she climbed up onto the bed and kneeled next to Ellis. "I'm not done yet, boy," she said, tugging the innkeeper's housecoat up under his arms and putting a hand on his chest before reaching out for the wizard with the other.

The look on the midwife's face was almost fanatical as Kal hesitantly extended his hand. As he began pushing magic into her small concentrations of magic appeared all over inside his body. He felt a tiny increase in what she was drawing and the spots began disappearing.

"What are you doing?" asked Kal, something didn't feel right.

"Hush, boy."

Kal filled his body with magical energy and looked down at Ellis's body with glowing blue eyes. As Lulen directed her attention toward a large spot on or near his heart he saw wisps of white mix with the faint green tendrils of magic coming from her hand on his chest. "No… Stop woman! You can't do that!" he said cutting the flow of magic and trying to pull away from her. She gripped his hand with far more strength than what Kal had imagined she was capable.

"Let me have this, boy!" she snarled at him, "My entire life I've sat and watched while the lives of mothers and babes have been decided by powers greater than me. Now, I have a chance to truly heal someone who I think deserves it, not just do my best and hope. I know what it's costing me and if my life is the price, then so be it. Jurien's daughter will be here to replace me next spring and the town has you and all of the women who I've helped before to make do until she gets here."

Kal's voice was little more than a growl, "I just lost my mother from the consequences of what you are trying to do. Even if you don't pass until weeks or months from now, I'll still have your death on my head."

Lulen's face softened, "I understand. I'm begging you, young wizard, let me do this."

Kal was caught off guard by the woman's complete change in demeanor, "How could you understand?"

"I've been alive a long time, child. I helped bring you into this world, even then I could tell that your mother wasn't… whole. I fully understand what I'm doing. Please, let me do this."

Kal took a deep breath, "You were doing something by his heart, finish that up and we're done," he said with finality.

The midwife nodded and looked down at Ellis as Kal began pushing magic into her again.

Kal opened the door to Ellis's room and called for Perra to open up the room next to them. A few seconds later he emerged carrying Lulen.

"Is she…?" Perra began.

"Only sleeping. Whether or not she will be okay in the long run, that's hard to tell," he said laying the woman in the bed. They had barely gotten Ellis back in a presentable condition before the old midwife sat down in the chair Kal had been using earlier and promptly nodded off.

"We heard you arguing, is everything okay?" Perra asked when they were in front of Ellis's room again.

Kal nodded, "Go get Kahrin and Bren, please. Jurien as well if he's still here. I'd like to only explain all of this once."

While Perra was gathering everyone Kal took a moment to put Ada and the innkeeper back in the position where he was sitting up with her arms around him. With everyone there, including Master Jurien, he took a seat next to the bed and snapped his fingers. Ellis and the blonde barmaid both started coming around, stretching and yawning as they rejoined the waking world.

Ada suddenly sat straight up as her last memory of yelling at Ellis came back to her. With her face turning bright red she threw off the bedcovers and tried to make an escape.

Two arms wrapped around her torso from behind and dragged her back into the bed, "No you don't, you're staying right here," said Ellis, holding the girl tight. Once she stopped struggling and relaxed back into him the innkeeper looked over at Kal, "So?"

Kal chuckled nervously, unsure exactly how to explain what happened. "Umm…"

"Out with it, Kal. Was she able to fix me enough to have children?" Ada's head whipped around as he spoke, hope clearly written on her face.

"According to the Lulen, yes. It should be possible."

"Wonderful news!" he smiled down at Ada, "With luck, you'll be carrying my son or daughter when I pass on. In response, the barmaid broke down into tears and threw her arms around the innkeeper.

Kal waited until the girl had calmed down a little before speaking again. "I wouldn't start gathering wood for your funeral pyre just yet Master Ellis. That deal I made with you about not extending your life? Perhaps you should have made the same deal with Lulen."

The innkeeper groaned in disappointment, "Which means what exactly? That I have a few extra days? Weeks? Years?"

"Decades," said Kal with a flat voice.

"Deca… What?... WHAT!?" yelled Ellis, nearly coming out of his bed.

The room was completely still for a few moments.

Jurien leaned back in his seat, his eyes narrowing, "For a man such as yourself, pranks of this nature should be below you, Kal. Perhaps we made a mistake Ellis."

Kal rolled his eyes, "I'm disappointed, Master Jurien. I thought you knew me well enough by now to know that I would never joke about something as serious as this. Lulen did, in fact, restore Master Ellis's ability to have children but then went on and started fixing other parts of his body. If I had not stopped her we would still be having a funeral, only it would be Lulen's, not Ellis's." The young wizard looked down, "To be honest I don't know if I stopped her in time, she was repairing something around Ellis's heart when I realized what she was doing. I let her finish then called an end to it."

"My apologies Master Kal, forgive me. Your news simply seemed too good to be true perhaps you should explain more before I make an ass of myself again."

"She nearly died?" asked Ellis, "How?"

Kal thought for a moment before saying, "Let me demonstrate." He stood and handed his cloak to Perra then took off his shirt. Getting his belt knife, he made three long cuts in the fabric. "Normal healing magic works much like the mending spell for my shirt," he pressed his fingers to the rune on the small leather tag and it began to glow. "The magic uses the materials it has around it to repair the body," the other people in the room watched as threads wound themselves back together over the next few seconds until the shirt was whole once again. "That's why if someone is injured I can heal the wound, but I cannot replace lost blood. Doing so would be like cutting a strip off my shirt and throwing it across the room.

"What the sickness did was something more like scorching or browning the shirt with an iron or over a flame, all of the pieces were still there they just didn't work right and were badly damaged in some way." Kal looked around and everyone seemed to be following along. "In the case of the missing strip or the scorched shirt the area has to be replaced, it can't be repaired." Kal slipped his shirt back on and retrieved his cloak.

Ellis was looking uncomfortable, "This doesn't mean I have parts of Lulen inside me, does it?"

Kal chuckled, "No, with magic you can use a person's life energy or lifeforce to act as the patch for the shirt or, in the case of what Lulen did, restore the browned section to what it was. However, you need to have so much to continue living, time will tell if our midwife used too much. Perhaps it's just me being hopeful, but I think the old woman will be okay.

"This also means that since you are no longer knocking on death's door I imagine that you are wanting your position on the council back."

Ellis looked down at Ada before smiling at Kal, "No, I don't think I do, Kal, the position is yours. Same goes for you Kahrin, Bren," he said nodding to each in turn. "I'll step back in eventually, but after having my impending death hanging over me for so long I want to just enjoy life for a bit now that it's been given back to me."

Jurien slapped his hands down on his knees as he stood up, "If I'm not mistaken that concludes our business for the day, and if I'm reading things right I'd say that Master Ellis and Ada would like some time alone. I'll go check on Lulen before heading back to the shop."

"Ya sure ye need to be leavin' so soon Master Jurien? With all the excitement I'm in a bit o' mood fer celebratin'," said Kahrin stepping out the door and swinging her rear back and forth in front of the apothecary.

Jurien laughed, "Begone harlot! As divine as that arse of yours is, Nina would string me up by my thumbs if I had your bottom and your face wasn't buried in her quim at the same time. You and Bren should be the ones celebrating," Jurien shot a knowing glance at Kal, "I've a feeling Ellis may have another opportunity at being an innkeeper in a couple of years and this one will eventually be yours."

Kahrin and Bren both gave him confused looks but the apothecary just laughed and stepped into the room Lulen was sleeping in. Perra had a hurried whispering conversation with Kahrin before dragging Kal and Bren over to Bren's table.

Kahrin brought them both mugs of ale just as Jurien was on his way out, commenting with a nod towards Ellis's door that he needed to leave now or he might take Kahrin up on her offer. Nobody blamed him, Ada's moans seemed very loud in the empty dining room.

Once Jurien had left, Kahrin walked up behind Perra who was leaning over the bar. Whistling to get the men's attention, she sank down behind the younger girl until the counter hid her from view. Perra's gasps and heavy breathing left little to the imagination as to what was going on.

"Earlier was weird," said Bren without taking his eyes off what was happening over at the bar.

"Yup," said Kal, equally enthralled by Perra and Kahrin's show.

"Kahrin thinks we should double-team her to get rid of any awkwardness between us."

"Your woman is getting a mouthful of my woman's juices, so she can share it with you in a little while. I think we're beyond a little awkwardness. However, if the opportunity arises…"

"Fair enough," replied the big man.

They watched for the next few minutes until Perra let out a long moan and tried to put gouges in the countertop with her fingernails. A second later Kahrin popped back up, looking suspiciously tight-lipped, and beckoned Bren into the back where their rooms were. Meanwhile, Perra called Kal over, slowly disappearing as she sank down behind the bar. As he walked around the counter the girl was on her knees waiting for him.

"You know, this is probably the only time we will ever get the chance to do this," she said as she reached up to undo his belt. Kal looked out at the empty dining area and agreed with her, however, once her warm mouth slipped over the head of his cock he wouldn't have cared if the place had been packed.

Ellis couldn't remember the last time he felt like this. Looking back on the events of the day, he was slightly shocked with himself for not noticing immediately that the pain in his chest and stomach were gone when Kal woke him up. It had been such a constant part of his life the world seemed slightly off without it. Not that he was complaining, any more than he would complain about the beautiful young barmaid lying with her back to his chest.

He felt bad for giving Kahrin and Bren the inn only to take it right back, but then who could have guessed that Kal and the old midwife would manage to accomplish something that even the most talented healers in the land couldn't. Then again, with the price of fixing his body being possible death, if the healers had known about it he could hardly blame them for not mentioning it.

Ellis smiled, if what Jurien had told him about the young wizard's plans were true the inn would be Kahrin and Bren's anyway in a few years. Having traveled extensively when he was younger and lived in a couple of the larger cities, he had no real issues with monster girls and was intrigued if Kal's idea was plausible.

The thought of embarking on a new adventure in the near future with Ada and their son or daughter at his side brought a smile to the innkeeper's face as he laid his head down and pulled his young lover tighter against his chest. Ada mumbled happily in her sleep just as Ellis drifted off.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Ikuno, Perra, and a slightly pregnant looking Aradelle all stared off to the west expectantly, each one almost vibrating with excitement. Kal smiled at the women, hardly able to blame them. It had been only a couple of days ago that he had made a mad dash, with Gerda's help, to the northern side of the mountain range then ran full tilt off to the east, towards Bea's nest. Arriving a short while later at what looked like a gigantic off-white cocoon laid over on its side and stretched between two large oak trees.

Kal had assumed at first that she had an arachne construct it for her and was surprised to find that the silk her home was built with had come from Bea. While showing him the tiny spot just below her tailbone where her silk was produced, she explained that butterfly girls were backwards from their smaller cousins and were unable to make silk until just before they became an adult. Kal reasoned that giving the ability to an adult butterfly girl, rather than a human-like baby who is unable to take care of itself, must have made more sense to the monster girl's creator when he was designing them.

Seeing the yellowish-white silk cocoon outside, Kal hadn't expected the inside to have smooth clay walls and floor. Upon closer inspection Kal noticed that the clay was pressed into the silk of the cocoon, holding it in place along with giving her a means of displaying the variety of trinkets Bea had collected over the years. The clay only went partway up the sides of the cocoon, leaving bare silk for the ceiling. When the sun shone down through the trees and struck the top of her home it made the gossamer material glow on the inside, giving Bea a light source besides that filtering in from the entrance.

Bea's nest was sparse aside from her knick-knacks in the walls. Since she went out and collected her food daily and didn't wear clothing, she had no need for storage or a place to prepare meals. This left her only requiring a bed which was placed at the very back of her home. Kal quickly discovered that a bed made entirely of silk was extraordinarily comfortable.

He also learned during one of his visits that there was a magical component to Bea's dust. After a vigorous bout of lovemaking, they both dozed off only for Kal to be awakened by getting smacked in the face with one of Bea's wings. Sitting bolt upright, and covered in the dust from her wings, he waited for the telltale erection and swelling in his scrotum. When the expected reaction never came he excitedly collected some of the dust directly from a very satisfied Bea into a vial. He then dipped a finger in and touched it to his tongue, no reaction. Kal then pushed some magic into the dust, much as he would one of Ikuno's potions, and tested the dust once again. Luckily for him, Bea was more than willing to help him with the discomforts of her natural aphrodisiac for the next half hour.

After the end of his rush to her house a few days ago Kal had found Bea on her knees in front of her egg as it rocked back and forth, held in place by Bea's silk, as she encouragingly called out to her daughter. Kal was honestly alarmed. He had helped with a couple of deliveries back in Telsin by this point and knew that a newborn should not have the kind of strength needed to rock the egg in such a manner. Once it finally split along one of the eight ridges, Bea pounced on it like a cat on a mouse, frantically stripping away the rest of the shell before gently lifting her daughter to her breast for her first meal. Kal was shocked by the size of his newest little girl. Despite only two months inside Bea and a month in her egg, the young butterfly girl was closer in size to a human eight-month-old.

Now it was time for his newest daughter to meet the rest of the family, except Gerda and Bas. Bas lived too far away to make it in time and Gerda couldn't be convinced to be away from the safety of solid stone for their little get-together. However, she was as close as she could comfortably get, even if it was nearly a hundred paces straight down.

There was a collective gasp from the girls as Bea came flitting over the treetops holding a small bundle wrapped in a blanket of gold-tinted white silk. She landed in front of Kal and after a quick kiss handed their daughter to him. "She just ate so she might be a little sleepy," said Bea.

Turning around, he smiled at the women. "I'd like to introduce you to mine and Bea's daughter, Adalena."

"Named by her father," interrupted Bea with a huge grin.

Kal smiled at her before turning back to the others, "Since Aradelle told me that Bea and her smaller cousins are often the first ones she sees after winter I did some studying and came up with Adalena. Ada – first. Lena – butterfly."

"Good job, Kal," Perra deadpanned, "now gimmie," she said holding out her hands and largely ignoring Kal.

Kal shook his head and clicked his tongue at the girl, "Aradelle first, she has something for Bea," he said nodding at the alarune's slightly swollen belly.

"Sorry Perra," said Bea, "butterfly girls don't leave their eggs once laid. I haven't eaten for a month except for what Kal has given me." Kal blushed bright red as he handed the little bundle over to Aradelle. 'Dell only held her for a few seconds before a couple of her vines came up and made a cradle beneath Adalena then carried her over the side of her bulb so all of the girls could gush over the baby. Kal noted that Ikuno magically dulled her claws before touching the tiny butterfly girl.

True to Bea's description Adalena looked very much like a human baby that had a slight tint to her skin that made it look like she was constantly in shadow. Two light orange streaks started at the top of her head and ran down her back though at the moment they could just barely be seen through her sparse hair. Bea had also been correct about Adalena being sleepy after having her belly filled, even with all the commotion she didn't open her eyes until Perra ran her finger across the little girl's cheek.

Perra gasped, "Kal! She has your eyes!"

Bea had come up beside Kal and was resting her head on his shoulder radiating pride as the girls fawned over her daughter. At Perra's comment, she lifted her head and smiled. "She won't get these until she spins her cocoon and comes out as a butterfly," she said tapping her face beside her eye.

After a couple of minutes, Aradelle passed off Adalena to Perra and beckoned the new mother over.

"Oh, thank goodness," he heard the butterfly girl whisper as she kissed Kal on the cheek and walked over to the alarune's side. Kal was well aware of how Bea usually got nectar and was mildly thankful when instead of presenting her sex to the butterfly, Aradelle leaned over and kissed her. Such activities would have seemed hardly appropriate with Perra and Ikuno making a fuss over Adalena right next to them. A few seconds later, as the kiss went on, Kal noticed Bea's throat moving as though she was drinking. A quick flash of disgust ran through his head as he thought of a baby bird being fed but he quickly pushed it away with the knowledge that the body of 'Dell's avatar didn't work like that. It also helped that he had been the one to ask Aradelle to store up some nectar at Bea's request. This saved her from visiting other alarunes to replenish herself now that Adalena was born.

Bea's bodice clicked and moved to the side as her stomach expanded from what Aradelle was feeding her. A few seconds later they broke the kiss and Bea leaned her forehead against 'Dell's. "Thank you so much," she said, then looked down at her body. "Dammit, I just got my boobs small enough to close that last time she ate."

There was a general chuckle of amusement until a sound like grinding rocks came from behind Kal.

"Can… I… hold… her?" came Gerda's voice in the halting monotone of the translation spell.

"Gah!" cried out Perra her hand diving for the belt pouch that held her earpiece. Kal's hand did the same but instead of putting it on he went over to where Bea was cringing from the sound of the golem's voice.

Once the initial shock of Gerda's appearance had worn off Perra quickly ran over and wrapped the golem in a hug. "Gerda! I'm so happy you came up!" Kal followed with his own hug and kiss for the golem for which he got a new earpiece in return, she had made a couple of extras for Bea and Aradelle when she decided to show herself.

A moment later Bea walked over and put her arms around the golem, "I'm so happy to finally meet you. Of course, you can hold Adalena. Though you might have to wrestle Ikuno for the privilege."

"Hey now! I'm not that bad!" said the oni indignantly. "No wrestling while holding the baby but it will cost you a hug," she said shifting Adalena to one side and holding out the other arm.

Gerda held up a finger asking the Oni to wait while she went over and presented the other earpiece to Aradelle.

The alarune smiled, "Thank you, Gerda, but I don't need that. I hear through vibrations in my vines and I'm guessing that since some of my vines are underground it's acting like one of those earpieces." She glided forward and wrapped her arms around the golem, "Like Bea, I'm very happy to finally meet you and I want you to know that there are few places safer for you on the surface than right here. Feel free to relax a little."

Gerda took a deep breath, which seemed odd to Kal since she didn't need to breathe, and nodded in understanding. Smiling, and looking about as relaxed as Kal had ever seen her on the surface, she made her way over to Ikuno, "A hug for a baby? Seems kind of unfair."

Ikuno raised an eyebrow, "A hug and a kiss?"

"Do I get to choose where you kiss me?" the golem said with a smirk.

Perra gasped at Gerda's comment while Kal covered his mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing at the look on the oni's face. This was surely a sign of Bas's influence on the younger golem.

Unfortunately for Gerda, she was still new at this kind of banter and quickly realized it when Ikuno's face went from shocked to predatory. "Anywhere you want, and I won't stop until you tell me to," said Ikuno, eyeing up the rock girl like a fresh piece of meat. "Hell, if I like it enough I might not stop even if you do."

Kal figured it was time for a rescue as Gerda blushed furiously and her mouth worked to form a response, but no sound came out. "Let's stick with a hug and a kiss on the cheek for now," he said. "You two can figure out any other kissing games when there aren't any children around."

Gerda looked over at Kal and blushed again, fully realizing that he was saving her. Nodding at Kal she gave the oni a hug and a chaste kiss on the cheek before Ikuno handed over Adalena with a warning to be careful of her strength, the predatory look from moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Sadly, Adalena was not a fan of the golem's voice and immediately began fussing even though Gerda hadn't said anything since taking her. Bea approached with the intention of rescuing the golem for a second time but Gerda held up a finger, "Wait, Bas showed me something," she tried to whisper but to no avail, the little butterfly girl just became more agitated.

Gerda closed her eyes for a moment and two rows of extremely thin plates grew out of her back, the largest about the size of Kal's head and getting smaller as they went along. A strange hum began coming from the thin sheets of rock before some of them died away while others started to vibrate in sequence. The tones quickly found a rhythm and soon a calming melody was coming from the plates.

There was something frustratingly familiar about the tune but Kal wasn't able to place it, from the look on Perra's face she was having the same issue.

"It's a lullaby, you two," said Ikuno, reading the looks on their faces. "Popular probably a hundred and fift…"

"Shhh…" shushed Aradelle as she laid on one of her petals. "If this is how she sings, it's beautiful. The history lesson can wait."

The most important member of Gerda's audience seemed to approve as she looked up in wonder at the golem. Gradually, Adalena's eyelids started to droop and drifted closed over the next few minutes.

As the music came to an end and the plates sunk into Gerda's back, Bea stepped up and took her sleeping daughter from the golem, "Aradelle was right, that was beautiful Gerda. Thank you."

Gerda just nodded instead of speaking, tears running down her face from the intense happiness she was feeling at that moment.

While things are on a high note," Ikuno said quietly, snickering at her own pun and giving meaningful looks to Kal and Perra. "There's another reason we are all here."

Perra took a couple of deep breaths to steady her nerves before looking at Kal.

"Are you sure you want this?" asked Kal. "It's your last chance to back out."

She knew he was trying to be gallant, but he couldn't have picked a worse thing to say as images of Ikuno nearly in tears on the front steps of the farmhouse flashed through her head. Steadying herself she nodded.

Standing in front of Aradelle, Kal and Perra faced each other and held hands. Gerda and Bea, with Adalena, stood just behind Kal while Ikuno got to her feet and took up a similar position behind Perra. The young woman was trying valiantly to control her breathing, somehow this seemed far scarier than the thought of losing her virginity had been. Then again, she and Kal hadn't had an audience either.

"Remember what I told you?" Ikuno asked her. Perra nodded, not trusting her voice at that moment.

Perra collected all of her thoughts about Kal, from the annoying yet endearing things he did to all of the ways he seemed to prove over and over that he was just trying to be a good person. On top of all this was her desire to be his, fully understanding that he would likely never be hers alone. Doing as Ikuno had instructed she imagined herself pulling energy out of the small crystal in the pendant and mixing it with those feelings. Her body and mind both seemed to tingle as she truly touched magic for the first time. After wearing the jewel for so long, the sensation felt curiously familiar.

A look of shock appeared on Kal's face as she pushed her magically infused thoughts and desires into the air between them. Perra smiled and nearly lost her concentration, a part of her was just as surprised. Ikuno had talked her through how this could possibly work, but even the oni was unsure of success since she was using the power of her necklace instead of her own.

Kal looked into her eyes, "I accept."

Perra wasn't sure exactly how to explain the difference between now and a few minutes ago aside from their connection felt far deeper than it had with just the pendant. Any doubts about how Kal felt about her vanished as she saw herself for the first time through his eyes. As she adjusted to hearing someone else in her mind, she began to feel the thoughts of the other girls filtering through, something that had never happened before with the necklace alone. Taking a moment to focus on each of the women she was able to see how much Kal cared for them.

"Nosey, aren't you?" he asked, smiling.

Perra's head snapped up from where she had been looking at the ground in concentration.

Behind her, Ikuno frowned, "She shouldn't be able to dig very deep through the bond like that."

"I don't think it's through the bond. I think it's through this," said Kal, releasing her hand and running a finger over the pendant. "They feel different, I think the bond is giving her the map and she's using the moonstone to follow it."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Perra stammered.

Kal smiled, "Don't worry about it. We weren't expecting this to work the first time, yet here we are. Let's just be happy about that, shall we?"

Perra finally looked around and saw Gerda and Bea grinning from ear to ear while Aradelle bounced around happily within her flower acting like she was clapping while her hands never actually touched. The alarune's antics confused her for a moment until she remembered that Adalena was still sleeping.

Large blue arms wrapped around her from behind, "Welcome."

After some time sitting around and chatting Bea announced that it was about time for Adalena's next meal and made her way home after dragging a promise of coming to see her soon out of Kal. Perra blushed bright red as she caught an image of Adalena sleeping followed by touching Kal's tongue with a tiny bit of dust, then Bea looking pregnant, licking her lips, and feeling satisfied. Checking on the other girls she could tell that they were all feeling rather amorous. The young woman wondered for a moment how on earth Kal didn't walk around hard all the time with the constant thoughts of sex running through the girl's minds. A very strong thought suddenly came from Ikuno of having her tongue buried firmly in a woman's orgasming sex then looking up to see Perra's face in the throes of ecstasy.

The girl quickly pulled her thoughts back.

"You're going too deep, dear," Ikuno's tone wasn't chastising despite that being exactly what Perra had expected. "Kal can go as deep as you just did, even deeper with Bea and I, to my knowledge he never has, out of respect for our privacy."

"Sorry, it's just so easy to get lost in everyone else's feelings. However, in my defense, Bea was broadcasting pretty strongly."

"Fair enough. To be honest, I felt that one a little bit too," said the oni rubbing a hand over her stomach.

Gerda was the next to leave. After taking a moment to find a spot without many of Aradelle's roots or underground vines she peeled back a bit of the topsoil and stepped into the hole she had made waving goodbye as she slowly sank into the earth. When she had disappeared, two of Aradelle's vines emerged and put the chunk of soil back, patting it into place before vanishing beneath the ground again.

The day was getting late when Kal and Perra finally left. Ikuno stayed behind saying she wanted to spend some alone time with Aradelle but to leave out her bedroll when they got back to the shack.

Kal called Ria and had her retrieve everyone's sleeping mats, then promptly got attacked by Perra as soon as they had something besides dirt to put their backs on. The monster girls' almost constant thoughts of sex had the young human in a state that bordered on desperation.

Since no one had remembered to dismiss her, Ria made her body fade as much as possible and enjoyed the show the young lovers were putting on with a hand buried between her legs.

"You'd better watch yourself Lady Perra, a few more performances like that and Tanner will be calling on you to take Kal's spot on the council," said Lady Nina as they left the blacksmith's shop. Since there was no town hall, each of the council members hosted meetings in their house or had the option of renting a room at the inn, out of their own pocket of course. This time it had been the blacksmith's turn to host and Perra felt like she was covered in a layer of sweat, soot, and steel. She briefly wondered if Bonn would be up for a ride out to Ikuno's to use her fancy bathhouse.

"It's not like I suggested anything amazing. With harvest time on the horizon, it just seemed to make sense to take the crops from a few fields and set them aside, instead of having everyone weigh their crops then take out the King's portion."

"You'd be correct, it's not amazing. In fact, it has been suggested many times before. What's amazing is that you managed to convince the rest of the council to go along with it. Too many of them still see this town as little more than a trading post. That's one of the first times I've seen them acting in the interests of the town as a whole," said the older woman.

"I still wish Kal hadn't run off just before this meeting, this is the second in a row," grumbled Perra.

"I've already apologized for that, Perra. In truth, I can't thank Kal, Ikuno and Ghoss enough for going with Jurien this time. Until now, he's had to hire mercenaries to guard him when he goes to that blasted swamp."

"What exactly are they going for? Kal mentioned that it was some kind of mushroom, but he couldn't remember what you told him."

"Queen's Crown tree fungus and Ghost Fern fiddleheads are the big things Jurien is looking for. The fungus is what makes my salves keep for so long without going bad and boiled Ghost Fern fiddleheads make the base for some of our higher end poultices. However, there's a mess of potion ingredients to be found out there as well as some spell components, which is why Kal and Ikuno went if I'm not mistaken," explained Nina as they arrived at her and Jurien's shop. "Ugh, I hate going to the Smith's for these meetings, I'm going to start heating up some water for a bath."

Perra stopped Nina from closing the door to the shop behind her, getting a raised eyebrow from the apothecary's wife. She then had a quick conversation with Kal and Ikuno, which was difficult with how far away they were. After getting their approval she smiled up at Lady Nina "How would you like to enjoy one of the benefits of having a mage as a friend? I know the perfect place we can go to get cleaned up."

As Kal and Ikuno were sorting and cataloging their bounty from their trip with Jurien, Ria decided to tell him of a special ink that could tie her to him in a way she could never be lost.

"If you will be traveling to larger cities then there will be pickpockets and cutpurses to think about. If you make this ink then all you need to do is put your mark on me," the sprite explained. "Once I have your mark the only way I can become someone else's property is if you were to die. More importantly, if I am stolen or lost I will try to return to you twice a day. However, each attempt takes a lot out of me and though I will be able to return to you, I won't be able to take out or accept anything for the next few hours."

Kal nodded in understanding, "What if a second person were to also put their mark on you? If I were to die, would you end up going back to the other person?" he asked.

Ria seemed momentarily confused, "Honestly, Kal, I don't know the answer to that. Most of my previous masters have been so hung up on protecting their property that I don't think it occurred to them to designate an heir. All we can do is try once you have made the ink."

Kal and Ikuno took down her list of ingredients and immediately began planning a trip to get those that could only be found far away.

"I had the strangest meeting with the Master Tanner today," said Kal as he hung his travel cloak next to the door.

"Hm?" Perra was engrossed in the book she was reading. Kal's mother had been insistent she learn, and lately the young woman had started to get the feeling that reading well was about to become a very important part of her life. As such, she was trying to brush up on her reading skills from Ikuno's more mundane selection of books.

"He asked me if I had any trips coming up that I would be out of town. I told him when I planned to go hunting for the ingredients Ria needs for her ink and I'll be damned if he didn't schedule the meeting for the day after I was going to leave. You wouldn't know anything about that. Would you?"

Perra groaned and leaned back in the chair, covering her face with the book. Apparently, Nina had been correct.

Once Ria's ingredients were gathered and Kal had made the ink, they tested it by putting Kal's mark, then Perra's on the sprite's bag. A tiny speck of light floated back to Kal's hand and turned into Ria's leather pouch a few minutes after Ikuno 'stole' Ria. They now knew that Perra's mark had not overridden Kal's and had to just hope that the second mark worked the way Kal was assuming. Unfortunately, the only way for them to truly test Kal's idea was for him to die and nobody was willing to go that far.

The summer months passed and dipped into fall. Kal continued to learn spells as quickly as possible. Although most of them weren't very powerful, many of them were useful in some way. Ikuno recommended things like a spell that opened locks which Kal, at first, dismissed as something only a thief would need until she reminded him that magic users weren't very popular in some cities where the church held a great deal of sway. The idea of being locked up in manacles convinced him the oni might have a point.

His leather mask received an upgrade in the form of the water breathing rune from the book. This was quickly followed by a darkvision rune when he discovered he could barely see underwater. Unfortunately, darkvision only helped with the light level and not the distortion or the fact that he had to keep his eyes open underwater for long periods of time. This led him to develop a rune that created a clear shield over his eyes that filled with air and allowed him to see fairly well as long as the water wasn't overly murky.

This small adaptation to his mask led to another revelation about the flight rune. The new addition created similar shield but over his entire face that deflected wind and allowed him to see without squinting against the oncoming air. Ikuno was hardly surprised when Kal insisted upon going to see Felli in order to test it.

With more time available to him, Kal's combat skills increased right along with the number of broken bones inflicted by Ikuno. The oni was holding back less and less as his skills improved and there was still the occasional mistake that led to him waking up with his head on her lap. Thankfully, he was fairly protected against serious injury by his runes and most of the time got away with mild fractures and bruises.

As the weather turned colder and the leaves began to change it was once again time to say goodbye for the winter, not just for Aradelle this time but for Bea and Adalena as well. Bea explained that she and her daughter would hibernate over winter together in a chrysalis she would construct after sealing her home. Both of them had put on significant weight over the last month since they wouldn't be eating again until spring. The butterfly girl was decidedly unhappy. Not with how her body looked since it was necessary, but because the extra weight was making it very hard to fly. Adalena had grown significantly in size during the summer months but slowed down as things got cooler, trading growing up for growing out. As they prepared for hibernation the normally happy little girl seemed to be having a hard time staying awake for more than a few minutes.

Kal said goodbye to Aradelle, Perra and Ikuno, then walked back to Bea's house with her, carrying a sleeping Adalena most of the way. Bea struggled to get up into her house, cursing the necessity for her extra heft. Once there, she and Kal shared a short tearful goodbye before his handing over their daughter and leaving her to begin making their winter cocoon.

Afterward, he returned to the other three women back in the clearing. Aradelle was in her flame-sprite fall colors once again as teary hugs were passed around for the second time that day. A few minutes later the alarune waved goodbye before curling up into a ball and descending into her bulb as she shed her petals and the hard outer leaves folded up for the last time until spring. Kal was more than a little disconcerted by how Aradelle's mind became completely still over the bond after months of her constant presence. Two days later Bea's thoughts also went quiet as she completed her chrysalis and went to sleep for the winter.

Kal sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, the day was growing late and he still hadn't come to a decision on which rune should go in the free space next to the shield rune. He looked over at the vambrace laying off to one side of the table in Ikuno's library. Kal had been so excited to learn and use it for the first time after seeing Sir Balthus save his hot-headed friend. The mage's brow furrowed as he remembered the intricate tattooed runes that had covered nearly all of the knight's forearm arm and wondered how he had not noticed that they were really nothing at all like what was on his bracer.

"Ikuno?" he said getting the oni's attention. She was sitting in bed enjoying her second favorite pastime, reading as she sipped saké from a small ceramic cup. As usual, she was totally nude, partly in hopes of enticing Kal into some fun, her first favorite pastime, and also because she knew how much he enjoyed looking at her body.

She looked up from her book.

"How is it that Sir Balthus had glowing runes all over his arm for his shield yet I am able to do the same thing with a sigil and a couple of rings?"

"He just used a different type of rune, if you could see through the skin and muscles on my arm you would find that those runes look very different from yours as well. Elvish, Orcish, Dwarven even the desert nomads and the island witch doctors, who most likely did Sir Balthus's arm, all have different looking runes that accomplish the same tasks."

"That doesn't make any sense, the rune directs the magic as to what it's supposed to do. A rune here should look the same as one on the other side of the world."

"Yet, obviously, from mine and Balthus's shield runes, that's not the case. Perhaps a good way to look at it is just that there are multiple paths to get to the same result. Some are more direct, like your shield and mine, while others meander and enjoy the view, as with Sir Balthus's arm," said Ikuno.

"Ugh, what you are saying kind of makes sense but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it." Kal rubbed his temples, "This is giving me a headache."

"Then quit thinking about it for the night and come to bed." Ikuno got up and placed her saké bottle and cup on the shelves next to the stove before crawling under the covers, lifting one side up in invitation for the young wizard.

Kal smiled and closed the book in front of him before turning off the magical lamp and making his way towards the bed. Ikuno was right, it was getting late already and they could continue this discussion tomorrow.

Ikuno glared into the gray clouds billowing around her, her face etched in a mask of dismay. She had believed herself to be immune from being pulled into the astral realm since she recast the anchoring spell every few days. It was overkill since the spell's instructions stated once a week would be sufficient, even so, she wasn't willing to take chances. Regardless of her efforts, her attacker had found a way around her protection and she once again stood on the dried cracked earth, surrounded by clouds that obscured the sun, or whatever it was that kept this small pocket of the astral plane dimly lit.

Large green glowing eyes appeared just beyond the edge of the clouds, casting about for a moment before falling onto the oni's blue form.

Steadying herself under the eerie necromantic glow, Ikuno resisted the urge to summon her club and escape. She wanted answers.

"Show yourself, mage," the oni growled, "I would at least like to know the identity of my enemy."

The eyes widened momentarily at Ikuno's words. "I see you've managed to keep your wits about you," a voice boomed from the clouds. "A pity, really. I enjoyed watching you snarl and snap like some feral bitch, it suited you."

"Sorry to disappoint," replied the oni with a sardonic smile. The memory of her last time being dragged into the astral plane and how this man had somehow repressed her memories, turning her into little more than a wild animal, still weighed on her. Since then, she'd lived with a slight fear that this magic user or his friend could do the same outside of the astral plane and put those she cared about in danger. "As I said, I'd like to know who it is that seems to want me dead. I've had little to do with necromancers over the years and know of none who I may have upset. That is, of course, it is you that has the issue with me and not the mage who created this pocket realm."

"You think I needed help bringing you here?" the voice asked.

"Every apprentice wizard knows that opposing affinities don't work together. A necromancer having mastery over the astral is farfetched at best," Ikuno's jaw tightened. As the words left her mouth she was immediately reminded of Kal's haste rune, in which he managed to make air and earth affinity runes work together. Kal was a bit of a prodigy in that respect and helped by his special vision, she doubted that a normal mage could accomplish the same without decades of practice. Even so, Kal proved that it could be done, which threw into question just how powerful this wizard might be.

The voice laughed, "Mastery over astral magics? Not hardly, though I have had to learn quickly thanks to you. Sadly, I'd call myself a passable necromancer at best. The beast your plant girl killed has been the pinnacle of my abilities in that arena. To be honest, I'm glad that dog didn't kill you Ikuno, what I have planned will be much more satisfying, poetic even."

Ikuno's eyes narrowed, "Who are you and what quarrel do you have with me?" There was a disturbing familiarity in the manner the voice was speaking.

"Still haven't figured it out? Now I am disappointed. After all the time we spent together, and you can't even recognize me." The eyes closed, disappearing into the clouds. Moments later a faint shadow of a human could be seen walking through the mists. Ikuno gasped as the mage stepped into view.

Meticulously crafted from fine silk and costing hundreds of gold coins just for the workmanship, his robes with their climbing flame patterns were immediately recognizable. However, that wasn't what caused Ikuno's sharp intake of breath. The face beneath the man's white hair would have looked more appropriate on a corpse, as did his hands extending from the arms of his robes. Leathery skin was drawn tight against bones that didn't appear to have enough muscle attached to move them. His face seemed to be locked into a gruesome smile and his lips barely moved as he laughed at her reaction. The only place she could see any emotion was in the sunken eyes that glowed green with necromantic power.

"Gods, Azrin, what have you done?" Ikuno whispered.

"You seem… unimpressed, with your creation."

"My creation? How on earth is this…"

"This is all your doing!" screamed Azrin, his entire body erupting in sickly green flames. "You took my sister from me!" Nearly as quickly as his momentary fury, the flames died away leaving the man unscathed. He held out a hand and conjured a single ball of the green flame, "Look at this Ikuno, all of the beautiful oranges and reds, gone. All I am left with is this disgusting green, had I known this was part of the price of immortality I may not have paid it. You were right, you know, all those times you told me that you were my second lover and that fire was my first."

"How dare you blame this on me, Azrin!" Ikuno snarled. The pyromancer's eyes snapped to the oni. "Your sister attacked me! I never wished for her death, I even gave her the chance to stop so I wouldn't have to kill her! Perhaps if you hadn't been so busy getting lost in your flames and spent some time putting your cock into her instead of me, we wouldn't be here!"

Ikuno could hear a hint of madness in his voice as Azrin laughed. "As expected, 'It was all Midora's fault. It was all Azrin's fault.' I didn't actually expect you to take the blame, after all, you ran away like a coward after you killed her."

"What?"

"You know we recorded everything that happened in that arena. I watched it over and over listening to her say how much she loved me and that she would happily give her body to me." Flames licked along Azrin's robes giving him an outline of green fire. "Then some giant blue bitch sliced her in FUCKING HALF!"

Ikuno studied the man's eyes as he spoke. The transition from pure adoration when speaking of his sister to unfettered hatred directed at Ikuno was disturbingly sudden. It appeared that grief over his sister had broken the pyromancer's mind, letting him make up a new version of reality that was easier to deal with than admitting Midora had tried to murder his lover in a fit of jealousy.

Understanding that reasoning with him was futile, Ikuno changed tactics, "I had it on very good authority that you were dead, and by all rights, you should have passed away many years ago. What have you done to yourself in this misbegotten quest for revenge?"

Azrin held up one of his hands inspecting the way the tendons showed through the stretched skin, "The pinnacle of magic, immortality. Wasn't that how it all began? Searching for the Philosopher's Stone to make the Elixir of Life? I thought becoming immortal would be beautiful. Look at this, little more than a corpse powered by magic.

"After you ran off I stayed at my hold for a few years. Finally, I could take no more of allowing my sister's murderer to still breathe and decided to hunt you down, so mine and Midora's souls could finally rest. For decades I searched for you, hiring diviners who would point me in the right direction but never arriving in time to catch you. I began to realize that the trails were getting colder, you were slipping out of my reach.

"I was drowning my sorrows at a tavern and thinking of returning to my hold when a necromancer by the name of Loran approached me. He needed my help with a very important project that required him to learn astral magic. I remembered how you shied away from astral spells when we were together and it occurred to me that an attack from the astral plane may be the best way to get at you.

"We traveled together for a time, I learned some astral magic and taught what I could to the necromancer. As a fire mage, I was tied to neither of the affinities and thought I might also learn a little bit of necromancy since he was willing to teach me. However, astral spells appeared to be the quicker way to avenge my sister, so I decided to leave dealing with the dead to those who enjoyed it. It seemed as though you had the correct idea in not specializing Ikuno, teaching the man seemed nearly impossible at first. Eventually, he began to get a grasp on dreamwalking to the point he could study on his own while we went about collecting all of the components he needed for this grand spell he was going to cast.

"We started making our way back to his keep, which he had built on the edge of an ancient battlefield. The place reeked of death and decay from the zombie and skeleton soldiers he had raised to be his home's guardians. I assisted him with making the potion for his spell, although he refused to let me know what the potion was for. He also had a secret project that he worked on alone and would get angry every time I asked him about it.

"Unfortunately for him, he had the outside of his keep warded against divination and astral projection but didn't think to put up any wards between rooms. Using my meager dreamwalking skills I spied on him and discovered what all of this work was for. Immortality.

"He was going to trap his soul in a giant emerald that had been soaked in necromantic power for years. That would go into an ornate box covered with runes and placed into a shrine just above the largest flawless magic crystal I'd ever seen. All he needed to do was drink the potion which would both kill and preserve his body as well as move his soul to the emerald. Then through a mixture of necromancy to move his old body and astral magic that would allow him to move his mind back into the corpse he would be reanimated as a lich."

Ikuno shook her head, "No, Azrin, tell me this is some kind of joke, that there is some other way you are still alive." Ria had said that he had died, according to his story she would have been telling the truth.

Azrin opened his mouth and hollow sounding maniacal laughter poured out. "Of course it's not a joke. Using magic extends a human's life, but not forever. By this time, my hair had turned gray and each morning I could feel the chill of death coming closer. I had given up on you, but this revelation gave me new life, new purpose. Once again, I could hunt down my dear sister's killer but this time without the weight of the passing years to hinder me.

"I waited until the day before Loran planned to carry out the ritual. Though he still hadn't told me what he was going to do, he promised that I would be handsomely rewarded afterward. Even offering me my own kingdom if I decided I wanted it. By this point I had watched and listened to him practicing many times while dreamwalking and knew the ritual nearly as well as he did.

"It's amazing how easy it is to incinerate someone when they've no clue you are about to kill them. After Loran was dead, I found the potion and performed the ritual, going through the motions and saying the words without really understanding what I was doing. I had no idea that becoming immortal required near mastery of necromantic and astral magic. I paid for that mistake dearly, spending years as little more than a ghost trying to learn enough about necromancy to move my carcass. Once I could animate my corpse I used the necromancer's library to learn what I needed to know, even that took years of my time to master in that pathetic spirit form. Nearly two decades went by from the time I drank the potion to when I finally rejoined my body."

Ikuno choked back a laugh, "So you killed yourself only to become the most pathetic lich this world has ever seen." She clapped her hands in a slow, mocking applause, "Congratulations."

Azrin's seethed for a moment but managed to control his anger, "Perhaps, but now I have all the time I could ever need to become insanely powerful."

"You seem to be managing the insane part pretty well," the oni quipped then immediately regretted it. She was looking for information and comments like that weren't going to help. Ikuno guessed that the last few decades had been very solitary for Azrin and that was why he was being so forthcoming with her now. There was a chance she could play on that weakness, "So you just became a lich and figured out how to get back into your body. What then?"

Azrin's face went from anger at her derision to an internal battle between lashing out at the oni and continuing his story. Ikuno had to hide her smile as the lich's expression calmed and he began speaking again. "From there, my hunt began. Again, I was set back by my single-minded pursuit of pyromancy. Hiring diviners was no longer an option with this body, most of them attacked me on sight, a couple even killed themselves as soon as they saw me." The corners of Azrin's mouth attempted to form something that looked like a smile. "I guess that they were true to their craft and knew what would happen to those who failed to find you. Finally, one of them, an old sage, directed me back to my and Midora's keep, telling me that what I required to find you would be there. Amazingly, he was right, it almost made me feel bad for reducing him and most of his forest to ash.

He held up two fingers as if holding something tiny between them, "A single white hair tucked into one of the corners of my very own headboard. Decades old, but still enough for a spectral wolf to seek you out. Against the suggestions of Loran's grimoires, I rode along with the wolf. If it found you and killed you, I wanted to see it."

"Instead, it ran into Aradelle, who was well aware of how to deal with such a monster," said Ikuno with a smirk.

"True, but its death, much as it hurt me, gave me an idea of where to search. Your wards against divination have proven to be annoyingly effective."

"I like my privacy."

"I'd noticed. Oddly, when I attempted scrying for you, I kept being led to your little boy toy. Yet there were times he would just wink out of existence as I watched him, usually in the same area. Eventually, I came to realize that these absences were when he was with you."

Ikuno frowned. Until that moment she hadn't considered that the part of her lifeforce within Kal might lead one of her enemies to him. "The boy is a dalliance with a nice cock, little more. Your issue is with me, we can leave any others out of our quarrel."

"Lying bitch," Azrin said, laughing at the oni. "I don't fully understand what it is that ties you to him, but I can tell that it is strong. Far too strong to be some mere 'dalliance.'"

Ikuno shrugged, "Your concern is with me and not him. In that respect, nothing has really changed. How was it that you finally found me?"

"At first I thought I had made a mistake. I formed this pocket on the astral plane and thought I had pulled you into it but when I came to check, it was empty. The next time you were here waiting for me, however, you had never mentioned your club while we were together and I was unfamiliar with its abilities. After much research, I figured out how it is tied to you and summoned from the spirit realm, as well as how it allowed you to escape. Interrupting a natural summons such as your iron club was going to be extremely difficult, so I took an easier route. I locked away your intelligence, so you wouldn't even know you could summon your weapon. That's what should have happened this time as well, but perhaps I expected too much. In hindsight I should have figured your intellect would be too strong for such a spell, after all, it was one of the things that I found so attractive about you."

"And here I thought you just liked my tits," Ikuno was trying hard keep the worry that was creeping into her mind from reaching her voice.

"I did, sadly I have little use for pleasures of the flesh anymore. Had I been properly prepared and able to move my body as soon as the transformation was complete there are a number of ways to keep the flesh supple and soft, however, once it turns to this," Azrin held up a leathery hand, "there is little to be done."

"After I escaped from you the last time I took precautions to prevent this from happening," said Ikuno as she waved a hand indicating their surroundings. "I must say I'm impressed you managed to break the spell."

Azrin lips curled into a smile, "Oh but I didn't, Ikuno. You simply let your anchor spell lapse."

Ikuno's eyes narrowed, she remembered lifting the covers and calling Kal to bed, she then recast the anchoring spell… and was suddenly back lying in bed holding the covers once again. "You altered my memory," she growled.

"Just enough to think that you had cast your spell these last couple of times," he was still wearing his creepy smile of amusement, "and now you're mine."

Ikuno's eyes widened as she felt a strange absence. Like a soft breeze that isn't noticed until it stops, Ikuno felt her connection with the spirit world suddenly blocked. Holding out her hand, she tried to summon her club, snarling in frustration moments later as her weapon refused to appear and she remained in Azrin's astral pocket.

"To be fair, I could have done that from the start," said Azrin. Ikuno looked up from her empty hand, her fangs still bared. "I doubt we could have had such an enjoyable conversation had I done so. People are far more likely to chat if they think they have a guaranteed escape."

Kal was woken up by a low growling noise coming from behind him. He summoned a light and looked back to see the oni lying next to him with her fangs bared.

"Ikuno?"

The lich made a motion towards the clouds behind him and moments later the ground shook with heavy footsteps that made the shards of cracked earth dance around Ikuno's feet. The largest minotaur Ikuno had ever seen stepped from the fog and bellowed in rage at the sight of the oni.

"I've no desire to attempt fighting you one-on-one," said Azrin, the hint of madness returning to his voice. "My friend here will take care of beating you to a pulp. Remember Ikuno, what happens here also happens in the real world. If you die here, you die there as well."

The lich's cackling laughter was drowned out by the bellowing charge of the minotaur. A fist nearly the size of her head came swinging down only to be batted away by the oni, she was nearly thrown off balance with how easy it was to deflect the beast's arm. Quickly getting her feet beneath her she reached out and raked her claws down the minotaur's chest, the bloodless wounds healing almost instantly.

Kal looked down in shock at the eight deep gouges running from his collarbone nearly to his waist. On instinct, he activated his healing rune on his back and was pouring enough power into it to light up the room behind him. The wounds were healing quickly but not before the bedclothes were stained red.

Kal tried to throw himself backwards out of the bed but a blue hand closed on his shoulder. Claws sharp enough to gouge stone cut deeply into his flesh, drawing a scream from the mage. As his hands came up in a futile attempt to dislodge Ikuno's fingers, Kal looked at the oni's face and his heart sank, even after his shriek of pain, her eyes remained closed. Knowing that he could never hope to defend himself against her as he was, he looked back over his shoulder and willed the vambrace with his strength rune towards him.

The minotaur was looking back at Azrin, both hands weakly trying to pull her claws out of its shoulder.

"Your champion seems a bit distracted, Azrin," Ikuno jeered. "He's also the weakest minotaur I've ever heard of," her claws sunk a bit deeper drawing a bellow from the bovine-headed monster. Looking over at Azrin she saw that he seemed a bit distracted as well, staring off into the gray clouds just off to the side of the combatants.

The lich smiled as his eyes focused on her again, "Not to worry, he'll be getting stronger in a moment."

Even as he spoke the minotaur began pulling Ikuno's fingers from its shoulder. With a growl the oni began raking at the beast's chest with her free hand, watching in frustration as the wounds quickly closed. The creature attempted to back away again but Ikuno sunk her claws deeply into its side, holding it in place as the beast howled in pain.

Kal was running low. Healing the damage Ikuno was inflicting while maintaining the strength rune at such a high level was draining him quickly. His hands were locked on Ikuno's wrists keeping her from hurting him even more, but that was only a temporary solution. Her strength was natural while he would eventually run out of magic. Knowing that she wouldn't let him escape meant that he couldn't get to any crystals, and gods help him if he had to continue this ordeal without magical help. There was only one source of energy close enough, he just had to hope he could hold out long enough for the oni to wake up.

Far faster than she expected a beast of this size to move, the minotaur let go of her wrist and grabbed one of her horns. Her claws immediately dug deeply into his side before she pulled them forward, leaving deep furrows in flesh and bone.

Ikuno's eyes flicked to Azrin and saw him once again staring off into the clouds beside them laughing maniacally. Her attention returned to the minotaur as she felt him begin to draw magic from her horn. The oni grinned, if he was stealing her magic to fuel his regeneration then all she needed to do was wait him out. Once they both ran dry he wouldn't be able to heal himself and she would still have her claws.

That idea was cut short by Azrin's laughter. If the minotaur burned through all of her magic she would have none left to protect herself from the lich. She tried jerking her head out of the minotaur's grasp, but his grip proved to be too strong. Her hand came up and shredded the muscles on the beast's arm allowing her to pull away. Again, with unnatural speed, the creature's other hand let go of her wrist and grabbed her other horn, drawing large amounts of magic from her as it healed its damaged arm while attempting to protect itself from her claws.

Growling with annoyance Ikuno raked her claws over every piece of flesh she could reach, the minotaur bellowing in pain as it gave up trying to defend itself and held on tight to her horns with each hand. As her opponent howled in agony she was momentarily distracted by Azrin howling with laughter. She finally felt the minotaur start to weaken, likely because she was nearly empty of magic, and brought a foot up, kicking the beast away.

The oni looked up at the lich to see a disturbing display of happiness on his face.

"I was going to kill you, but when I found out about your little wannabe-mage lover I decided that something more appropriate was in order. Now both of us will spend our immortality without someone we loved. Only you will have the knowledge that your lover died by your own hand," Azrin threw his head back in screeching laughter as Ikuno felt her connection to the spirit realm restored.

She looked down at the minotaur in horror, its wounds still closing but much more slowly now. "Gods, no," she whispered as energy swirled around her hand. Azrin's ecstatic laughter followed her as the club appeared in her hand and she vanished from the astral plane.

Ikuno sat bolt upright in bed, "Kal?! KAL?!" she felt wetness on her hands and held them up in the dim light of Kal's glowing orb to see they were soaked in blood. Looking down her body and at the bed told much the same story. Facing away from her and lying in a heap on the furs in the center of the room was Kal's body, the healing rune on his back flickering and fading as he ran out of the energy to sustain it.

Vaulting out of bed and landing next to the young mage she rolled him onto his back, gasping at the ripped and shredded state of his chest and abdomen. As she summoned a magic circle in each hand to continue healing him, the light from the spells drew his attention.

"You're awake," he said with a pained smile as he labored for breath, "thought I might have lost you." Kal's eyes glazed over while staring up at the oni's tear-streaked face. In that same moment her healing spells sputtered and died, Kal had drained all of her magic trying to heal himself.

"Ria!" Ikuno screamed, knowing that she only had seconds before she lost him for good.

"How can I help y…" the sprite's words changed into a scream at the sight before her. "Goddess! What happened!"

"Nevermind that! I need those large crystals to keep healing him!"

Motes of light flew out and landed next to the kneeling oni. Ria positioned the crystals so they would lean against her legs when they materialized.

Looking around and seeing the bed and floor soaked in red the sprite flitted over to Ikuno, who was already frantically using the crystal's power to finish healing Kal's body. "Ikuno," she said quietly, "you can't save someone who's lost this much blood, even I know that."

The oni sobbed at the avatar's words, "I know, but I did this and I'm going to fix it. A life for a life." Ikuno reached deep inside herself for the first time since making the potion for Merantha. Ria watched as wispy white tendrils appeared from the center of Ikuno's chest and ran up her arms. When they touched the healing spells the magic circles became blindingly bright, making both Ikuno and Ria close their eyes from the glare.

"Wouldn't mind a bolt of lightning about now," the oni smirked.

Moments later she heard Kal take a gurgling breath, without halting the healing spells she used her knees to roll him onto one side, letting him empty out the fluid that had collected in his lungs. After coughing a few times and leaving a red puddle next to where his head lay, Kal's breathing fell into a steady rhythm.

Ikuno felt the tug from her faraway shrine and knew that she had gone too far. Instead of stopping, she continued to pour her lifeforce into the healing spells. No matter the cost, she would make things right again.

Kal awoke with a start, "Ikuno!" he yelled while scrambling to his feet, only to slip and fall back to the floor on the red-stained furs. As he pushed himself up he heard a quiet sobbing coming from over by the bed. His eyes widened from the sheer amount of blood in his vision, covering not just the furs but his arms and body as well. Looking over he saw Ikuno sitting up against the side of the bed, smiling. Next to her was Ria's ghostly form and the source of the crying.

Instead of trusting his legs Kal quickly crawled over to the oni, shoving emptied magic crystals out of the way in his haste. "Ikuno! Are you okay?!" he asked in a panic, seeing that she was covered in red nearly as much as he was.

"No," she said still smiling, "but I will be in a couple of years."

"What?!"

She directed his attention to the small glowing ball of light she was holding in her hand. As he watched wisps of white streamed off of it towards the east.

"No, please Ikuno. No," he begged her. From his experience healing Master Ellis, he recognized it as what remained of her lifeforce.

"I nearly killed you, Kal. I had to make it right and it was the only way to save you."

"But… what happened?"

"Ria will tell you, I don't have enough time left and I explained everything to her while you were asleep." Ikuno touched her head with two fingers, a small mote of light seeming to attach itself to them. She then brought the fingers up to Kal's forehead and when she touched him his mind was filled with an image of a small roadside shrine with statues and symbols he didn't understand carved into an assortment of stones. "It will take me two years to recover from this," she said with a sad smile, "It's a long journey to my shrine. You will need to finish that flight rune if you want to make it there in time to meet me when I can form a body again."

Kal opened his mouth to speak but Ikuno pressed a finger to his lips. "Tell Perra and Aradelle I love them. Let them know I'm sorry I couldn't be there to tell them in person. Remember this isn't 'goodbye forever', just 'goodbye for now.' I love you, Kal." As the final wisps of light floated away from her hand Ikuno's body faded into nothingness.

"I love you too, Ikuno."

Kal stood next to the shack just east of Aradelle's clearing, staff in hand and once again wearing his black cloak with the red designs along the trim. Winter had been hard without Ikuno and he had been champing at the bit to get on the road after she disappeared. Though she sympathized with Kal, Perra had been insistent that he wait until Bea, Adalena, and Aradelle woke up in the spring so he could tell her what happened in person. As an added incentive, Perra also told him her decision. With him leaving in the spring and the possibility of him not coming back, she wanted to have his child growing inside her before he left.

Lady Nina confirmed Perra was expecting just before the winter solstice and the young woman had been positively glowing ever since.

Goodbyes were hard, especially with Kal knowing Perra was carrying his son or daughter. However, she flatly refused to hear any arguments for him staying. "I miss Ikuno too," she'd said firmly before he let the issue drop. Gerda and Bea were sad that he was leaving but understood that this was something he needed to do. Just as with Bea and Aradelle, Ikuno and Gerda had gotten closer over summer and the golem was desperately missing her friend. It seemed to help Gerda's mood when he assigned her as caretaker of Ikuno's house while he was away.

At Perra's suggestion, he said his farewells to the rest of the girls and camped out the few days before Aradelle emerged. Bea woke up on the day he arrived at the little shack, allowing them a chance at some alone time before he left. Adalena wouldn't wake until the much slimmer Bea was fed well enough to take care of her daughter as well.

Aradelle was distraught at the news about Ikuno and bordered on hysterical when he explained that he was leaving as well. With one of her lovers gone and the other leaving, Kal spent a very chilly early spring night consoling the alarune. By morning she'd gotten her spirit back and was trying to get promises from him to bring back Azrin's head on a pike when he returned with Ikuno.

Now he stood on the old road that ran past Aradelle's clearing. Looking to the south he could see the mountain range. Just beyond that was nearly everything he had ever known and experienced in his twenty years.

"Ria," he called.

The sprite appeared next to her bag then flitted up to sit on his shoulder. "Yes, Master Kal?"

"I could use some company," he said.

Ria just smiled as Kal took his staff firmly in hand and with a deep, steadying breath, turned and began walking north.


End file.
